Marcus Rashford may not have started England\u2019s World Cup opener against Croatia, but he certainly finished it with a bang.<\/p>\n
Rashford secured the Three Lions\u2019 4-2 win over Croatia by scoring the final goal in the 85th minute after coming on as a sub earlier in the second half.<\/p>\n
England and Ghana top Group L at 1-0-0 as they enter Tuesday\u2019s meeting in Foxborough, Mass. The winner clinches their place in the knockout round and grabs the inside path to winning the group.<\/p>\n
Rashford feels players have leaned into their roles as they aspire to deliver England their first World Cup title in 60 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re one team and we have to fight for each other in the exact same way that you fight for your club teams,\u201d Rashford said in an interview published by the Football Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the norm now. We understand it\u2019s difficult because everybody wants to play and a lot of players deserve to play. At some point, players are going to be disappointed, but it\u2019s about how you handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthony Gordon started on the left wing in that match before Rashford came on, one of several examples of England\u2019s enviable depth. Bukayo Saka and Djed Spence were among the other second-half subs to keep the English attack fresh.<\/p>\n
For Saka, however, the reason why he didn\u2019t start boils down to fitness. England manager Thomas Tuchel said the Arsenal star is managing an Achilles injury, and it\u2019s likely Noni Madueke will start on the right wing again vs. Ghana.<\/p>\n
Ghana\u2019s injury concern is in net. Lawrence Ati Zigi suffered a groin injury in the opener against Panama and was replaced at halftime. Benjamin Asare went on to make three saves to preserve the clean sheet and Caleb Yirenkyi broke the stalemate five minutes into second-half stoppage for a 1-0 victory.<\/p>\n
Ghana manager Carlos Queiroz said a final determination on Zigi\u2019s availability vs. England would be made only after putting him through a pregame medical assessment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must be ready to make sacrifices,\u201d Queiroz said. \u201cYou have to be ready to pay the price because a win in this World Cup is very expensive. But the boys are ready to pay that price.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vice-captain Thomas Partey is set to make his debut in this World Cup after he was denied a visa to enter Canada for the match against Panama. Partey faces trial for rape and sexual assault in England next year; he denies all charges against him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s part of football, things happen in football that you cannot control,\u201d Partey said. \u201cSo, for me, now I feel okay and I\u2019m ready to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defensive midfielder will see former Arsenal teammates Saka and Declan Rice on the opposite side of the field.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s other World Cup matches:<\/p>\n
\u2013Group K, Portugal vs. Uzbekistan in Houston: Questions are bubbling up about Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s effectiveness after Portugal settled for a 1-1 draw with DR Congo. Uzbekistan still seek their first World Cup point after falling 3-1 to Colombia.<\/p>\n
\u2013Group L, Panama vs. Croatia in Toronto: It\u2019s do or die for both sides. If Croatia lose, they\u2019re eliminated if Ghana win or draw against England. If Panama can\u2019t grab a point, they\u2019ll be done for if England win or draw.<\/p>\n
\u2013Group K, Colombia vs. DR Congo in Zapopan, Mexico: After a thoroughly dominant win, Colombia control this group and will clinch first place with a win Tuesday. Yoane Wissa and DR Congo don\u2019t have nearly as much pressure after taking a point from the Portuguese.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–Reuters–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-37861","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"England and Ghana top Group L at 1-0-0 as they enter Tuesday\u2019s meeting in Foxborough, Mass.","published_date":"","news_description":"England and Ghana top Group L at 1-0-0 as they enter Tuesday\u2019s meeting in Foxborough, Mass.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37862,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37861\/revisions\/37862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=37861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}