Maguire defends goal celebration against Albania
His fingers-to-ears reaction to scoring was criticised by Keane, Defoe and Wright
England defender Harry Maguire defended his goal celebration during Saturday morning's (Singapore time) World Cup qualifying victory over Albania which former players described as over the top and unnecessary following his poor performances for Manchester United.
England thrashed Albania 5-0 to all but qualify for Qatar 2022 after Maguire opened the scoring with a ninth-minute header, celebrating with a knee slide while putting his fingers to his ears as if to shut out his critics.
The centre-back has been targeted after United lost back-to-back home games against rivals Liverpool and Manchester City to drop to sixth in the English Premier League.
Former United captain turned pundit Roy Keane repeatedly described the celebration as "embarrassing" while former England forward Jermain Defoe said the celebration left a "sour taste in people's mouths" and ex-England striker Ian Wright urged him to "just play the game".
"No, it wasn't directed at no one, it was a knee slide, I obviously put my hands on my ears," Maguire said in a post-match interview.
"I'm Manchester United captain, of course I'm going to get criticism when the team isn't doing well. I fully expect that but it wasn't directed at anyone.
"Scoring for your country is a great feeling. The first goal in a crucial qualifier, we knew how important the game was... how important the first goal was."
Former England defender Micah Richards defended Maguire's celebration, tweeting: "People: Footballers are like robots, they have no personality!
"Harry Maguire. Scores the opening goal for his country, celebrates with real passion whilst referencing those who have been criticising him.
"People: That's embarrassing."
Meanwhile, England manager Gareth Southgate was pleased with Maguire's performance, saying he had a chat with him earlier this week which helped the defender "switch focus" ahead of the international games.
"Is he a Hulk Hogan fan? I don't know what the celebration was for. He's a fabulous player... he was in the Euros team of the tournament," Southgate said.
"He's rushed back because he's the sort of player who has a huge conscience to help his club. You get lots of players who hide in the treatment room when pressure is on.
"He hasn't done that and I have massive respect for that, but you can go into matches not fully fit and you're judged as fully fit in those moments."
Southgate added that he would rotate his side for their final qualifier against San Marino on Tuesday morning.
Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish and Raheem Sterling have left the squad, while Mason Mount and Luke Shaw, who both missed the Albania win, will no longer join the team.
Crystal Palace loanee Conor Gallagher has been handed his first England call-up.
Said Southgate: "Yes, we will make quite a few changes, but what we've done well in the past is sustain good performances, even with those changes." - AFP, REUTERS
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now