Maguire relates ‘awkward’ Tuchel callpublished at 15:40 BST
England v Croatia (Wed, 21:00 BST)
Simon Stone
Manchester United Reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesHarry Maguire has revealed England boss Thomas Tuchel told him his World Cup dream was over on a FaceTime call.
Maguire’s omission from Tuchel’s 26-man squad was one of the most contentious and led to a stinging rebuke from the Manchester United defender at the time as he said he was “shocked and gutted”.
Speaking on Gary Lineker’s Rest is Football World Cup podcast, Maguire says he still believes he should have been picked – and revealed the method Tuchel chose to deliver the bad news.
“He FaceTimed everyone,” said Maguire. “It was quite an awkward call.
“I received a text saying can I speak to you about 4pm. It is quite a unique way of doing it and it must be quite hard because he can see everyone’s reactions.
“I said straightaway I was really disappointed. I thought I did enough to be in the squad and thought I could have helped and had a part to play on and off the pitch.
“He said he can’t give me an excuse but he had gone with the four lads who got him through the autumn.
“It was tough to take. I did think I would be in the squad after being selected for the March camp under him for the first time. I did really well in both games and then went back to Manchester United and finished the season really strongly.”
