The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Rashford backs VAR to be a success
Improvements needed, but England attacker welcomes new system
Marcus Rashford believes the implementation of video assistant referees will be great for the game once the issues that threatened to derail England’s Group G opener are ironed out.
The Three Lions kicked off a major tournament with a victory for the first time since 2006 on Monday as Harry Kane glanced home a stoppage-time header against Tunisia.
The 2-1 win sets England up well ahead of Sunday’s clash against Panama, when Gareth Southgate’s men will be hoping for better officiating from those on the ground and watching from afar.
Aggrieved at the penalty awarded against Kyle Walker by referee Wilmar Roldan, that equaliser was compounded by the VAR’S lack of action when Kane was twice bundled to the ground in the box.
Southgate felt his side were wrongly denied penalties on Monday and Rashford hopes for quick improvements to a system the forward welcomes.
“The idea of bringing it into the game is spot on,” he said. “It will improve with time because there are some decisions where they have to at least check whether or not it’s a penalty.
“That’s down to them to decide but at least they should check those. I’m sure it’s something they can improve on.
“We’ve not talked about last night specifically, but we’ve had conversations about it previously.
“It’s a tough one because I think it’s something that the game definitely needed.
“As with everything it needs improving and I think it will improve in time.”
Three officials from Fifa gave a presentation to the England players and staff last week, but there are clearly still issues that need clearing up.
While England wait for the VARS to get their ducks in a row, Southgate is focusing on taking their sparkling start against Tunisia across 90 minutes.
“It was a good start to the tournament and it certainly gives us a platform to build on throughout the tournament,” Rashford said.
“The important thing was always the three points, but it was good that, especially in the first half, we got the performance we were looking for.
“You would expect us all to be happy and buzzing, which we were. It’s a big step to take, getting the three points.
“Like I said before, it’s a platform for us to build on and we have to improve the performances which will ultimately get the three points.”
Rashford came on a second-half substitute at the Volgograd Arena.
The 20-year-old’s hopes of starting the match appeared to go up in smoke due to a knee complaint sustained following his man-of-the-match display in the friendly send-off win against Costa Rica.
Rashford is now hoping to get the nod against Panama and complement star turn Kane, whose first goals at a major tournament underlined his key role for England this summer.
“He’s been a brilliant leader for us leading up to the tournament, as well as now we have started the tournament,” the Manchester United forward said.
“He always leads by example and there’s no better way to do it than by scoring goals, like he has been doing.
“He’s a top forward. His career is only going to go up and up.
“He’s very young and, at this stage of his career, he’s going to keep improving and getting better, so who knows how good he can get?”
In the eyes of Peter Crouch, Kane is reaching levels close to those of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Former England striker Crouch, who played in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, said: “I said before theworld Cup, when I was asked what I thought of the players in the England squad, that the one true world-class player was Harry Kane.
“I think he could be the difference. “Give him a chance and nine times out of 10 he’ll score it.
“In these big games he’s calm and he takes his chances when they come. We have got every chance when he is up front.
“You look at the top players like Ronaldo and Messi and Kane is not far away from that (in) the way he is scoring goals and consistently pushing the boundaries of getting goals and his performances.”
Crouch, who last week surprised a fan by delivering food as part of a Mcdonald’s promotion, said: “I played with Harry Kane when he was a young kid coming through at Spurs. What always impresses me is how he takes everything in his stride.
“He scored 30 goals one year and people thought he was a one-season wonder but he did it again, and again.
“In previous years if we didn’t have a player like that we might have drawn that game and the difference between a draw and a win is the difference between winning the World Cup and not.”