Marcus Rashford of Manchester United withdrew from the England squad due to a knock before traveling to New York for a break.
Manchester United News:
Marcus Rashford surprised fans on social media just hours before England’s game against Italy on Thursday night.
Rashford, who had been injured and had been left out of the England team for the Euro qualifiers, shared a photo of himself taking some “downtime” in New York before sharing another picture with his partner near a fountain in Central Park.
When Rashford’s absence from the England squad was revealed, it was unclear what injury he had sustained against Fulham in the FA Cup, and his social media posts received a barrage of questions such, “Thought you were injured?”
The fact that Rashford, Manchester United’s top scorer this season, had to sit out the current international break due to an injury.
It is believed that England were unaware of his trip to the United States following his withdrawal from the squad, and Gareth Southgate, when asked about his absence and trip to New York, appeared to express frustration at Rashford’s absence.
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The extent of his injury is unknown, but it’s possible he’ll aggravate it while on international duty, which is understandably something a player who has finally been given the all-clear will want to avoid.
Rashford is the only player in the England squad who has privately dealt with injuries throughout his career, therefore it is possible that his absence is due to a lack of want to incur unnecessary risks.
Rashford was hindered by a shoulder injury that required surgery throughout 2020/21 but was postponed because he wanted to play through the pain with a stress fracture in his back at the beginning of 2020.
Rahford recently reflected on that challenging time in his career, which resulted with his starting against Villarreal in the Europa League final in May 2021 after months of injections and pills had worn down his body to the breaking point.
“For me, it’s something I expect from myself,” Rashford said of managing injuries. “To be honest, I don’t think anyone – apart from the people at the club – they don’t know how long I was dealing with those issues and they probably won’t know until I say.
“But it wasn’t just one season, it was a period of time where every day was tough and you have to just sacrifice and I’ve always been one to try and be out on the pitch as much as I possibly can. And for me, that’s where I get the happiness.
“If I’m out injured, I’m not happy. I’m dealing with the pain and I’m not happy. So I would rather try and deal with the pain as long as I can perform and still help the team, I’d always choose to do that. At times, you have to pull yourself out and if you don’t, then you have to get people around you to pull yourself out and that’s what happened with the shoulder situation last season.”
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