Jordan Pickford hopes that officials treat England fairly

Since Gareth Southgate admitted he was "concerned" that his team had been taken as an illustration throughout pre-World Cup official talks, Jordan Pickford is hopeful England receive fair treatment from referees

In the opening moments of Monday's 6-2 victory over Iran, Harry Maguire was seized by Rouzbeh Cheshmi, denying England what appeared to be a simple penalty kick.

Mehdi Taremi scored a last-second penalty for England after the VAR notified the match officials to a pull on a shirt in the England box. On Tuesday, a spot-kick was awarded for a similar offense in Argentina's shocking loss to Saudi Arabia.

In a pre-tournament meeting that was also available to the media, FIFA Officiating Committee Chairman Pierluigi Collina picked out England by playing a tape of Kalvin Phillips obstructing to provide room in the box for Harry Maguire to score in England's 5-0 World Cup Qualification victory against Albania last year.

           The Italian stated that a goal of this nature would not be permitted at the World Cup, and Southgate is now worried about the possible consequences of England being the nation featured prior to the tournament.

After Iran's victory, Southgate expressed his concern that officials' decisions would be tainted by the pre-tournament briefing and result in his team missing out on penalties.

Pickford expects England to still be treated appropriately despite being defeated by Taremi's late penalty.

It was discussed at the referee's meeting, in which we participated, but maybe we can get the truth, he added.

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"It won't ever be flawless. You won't always be pleased with VAR judgments, but from even my perspective, I believe Harry's may have been a penalty. There is no way the referee's side can always be flawless.

We just pray that we make the correct choices when we feel we need to.

Even the fiercest critics would have been delighted by England's convincing victory over Iran, despite the fact that many would have predicted it.

Considering a few of the other outcomes, such as Argentina and Germany's losses and the three scoreless draws, Pickford thinks the display was even more outstanding.

The Everton goalie continued, "It was a tremendous match, six goals in the first match - if you look at Iran's past record in the last number of matches they are extremely difficult to defeat and difficult to break down."

"We adopted a really professional strategy. Six goals on 12 attempts. The boys were excellent.

               "As a team, we aim to maintain clean sheets because we understand how crucial they are in tournament football.

You can never be happy after giving up a goal, but we will continue to play well and hopefully keep a clean sheet in the USA.

"It is the essence of World Cup football. There will be surprises; there have already been some close games and 0-0 draws.

"Unforeseen circumstances will inevitably occur in World Cup matches; Saudi Arabia performed well and won."

 

-Following team training, England is hopeful that Harry Kane will be able to play against the USA on Friday.

With goalie Jordan Pickford confirming that captain Harry Kane was "fine" and participating in team training, England is optimistic that he will be able to play against the United States.

A poor Morteza Pouraliganji tackle found the 29-year-old grasping his right foot in discomfort shortly after halftime of Monday's 6-2 Group B victory against Iran.

In spite of continuing to play until the 75th minute, Kane was observed exiting England's World Cup with a minor limp with his right ankle carefully wrapped.

The outcome is encouraging for England, whose coach Gareth Southgate had played down worries about the matter right after the match against Iran.

Regarding the 2018 Golden Boot winner, the manager commented, "I think Harry's fine."

"I mean, it clearly seemed like a nasty tackle, but he continued playing, and we truly took him off because we believed it was a moment we could do that,"

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David Paul

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Adeleke Ajibola 43 w

nice1

 
 
David Paul 1 y

Honestly they are going through aLot in this Qatar World Cup