GOLDEN BOY MEETS WORLD
Grown-up Foden relishing role on big stage
FIVE years ago Phil Foden helped England win a World Cup – and he did so as the player of the tournament.
From Under-17 glory in India to senior glory in Qatar? Now that would be some journey.
And what about being the mosttalked about star again?
Foden’s performances in the next few weeks could define his career and history shows how World Cups are remembered for an individual superstar.
Pele in 1958, Diego Maradona in 1986, Zinedine Zidane in 1998, Ronaldo in 2002.
Manchester City’s attacking midfielder heads into this month’s senior tournament as an England poster boy after enjoying a taste of the big time at last year’s Euros.
But it was in 2017 where he showed what the future held, scoring twice in a 5-2 win over Spain in the final.
He was part of a star-studded squad which featured Conor Gallagher, who will be alongside him in Qatar, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Marc Guehi, Rhian
Brewster, Jadon Sancho, Angel Gomes and Emile Smith Rowe.
Having won four Premier League titles with Pep Guardiola’s side and earning 18 caps since making his international debut two years ago, Foden has quite a collection of honours for a player of his age.
Now he is ready to deliver on this world platform.
“I want to take my club performance into England,” said Foden, 22.
“If I do that I’ll be alright. All the experience I’ve had from winning the Youth World Cup to the Premier League can only help me on the big stage.
“It’s just building on the experience of previous tournaments and growing as a player. I’m just doing that step by step.
“Going into the World Cup now, I’m excited and want to take my club form into the international level. I know my performances can be much better.”
Since the Euros defeat last summer,
Foden has cemented himself as a regular in City’s side and has eight goals this season including a stunning effort in the 2-1 defeat by Brentford on Saturday.
But he is not getting carried away after Gareth Southgate named a squad including forward stars Jack Grealish, Mason Mount, James Maddison, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling.
Maddison was arguably the big shock in the 26-man squad but that selection did not surprise Foden.
“It’s always a dream to be named in the squad and then you want to start. It must be hard for Gareth picking an eleven,” he said.
“I’m happy for James Maddison as I feel he’s worked so hard with his performances to get the call up. I’m delighted for him.
“We’ve got such a strong team. There’s no right answer for me – there’s no strongest eleven. It’s going to be interesting.”
England head into the tournament off the back of an embarrassing Nations League campaign, which saw Southgate booed after a 1-0 defeat by Italy and face
calls to quit his job. But Foden insists all the players are behind the manager.
He said: “The criticism is wrong but it’s the world we live in now. Gareth deserves all the respect for what he’s done getting us so far in previous tournaments.
“In the Nations League, he was giving a lot of people debuts and changing the team a lot. That is not easy for players to perform straight away.
“He’s got the players’ backs. We just need to look forward to the World Cup now. All the negativity we just need to forget and focus on ourselves.”
■THROUGHOUT the 2022 FIFA World Cup™, McDonald’s UK will fund the redistribution of more than one million meals through FareShare to those who need it most. Find out more by visiting www.mcdonalds.com/mcdelivery