England manager Southgate passionately defends Maguire despite own goal in Scotland friendly

By Can Erozden

England manager Gareth Southgate stood by Harry Maguire despite his own goal in the Scotland friendly on Tuesday evening, calling the "ridiculous treatment" of the experienced defender "a joke."

"It's a consequence of ridiculous treatment of him (Maguire) for a long period of time frankly," Southgate said in the news conference after the match that England won 3-1 at Glasgow's Hampden Park.

"I think our fans recognized, 'OK there might be a bit of heat from our own supporters but we're not going to have others getting into him.' But it's a joke. I've never known a player treated the way he is," said Southgate.

"Not by the Scottish fans but by our own commentators, pundits or whatever it is. They've created something that's beyond anything I have ever seen. He's been an absolute stalwart for us in the second-most successful England team for decades – he's been an absolutely key part of that," Southgate said, praising him as a "top player."

Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, and Harry Kane were the scorers for England in the friendly match against Scotland.

Maguire, 30, a Manchester United central defender since 2019, earned his 59th international cap for England on Tuesday, and was one of the integral parts of the Three Lions that reached the 2018 FIFA World Cup semifinals, and the UEFA EURO 2020 final.

On social media, many people have been making fun of Maguire for so long when he makes big mistakes or scores own goals at his club or under the England shirt.

In 2019, Manchester United signed Maguire from another English Premier League club Leicester City for £80 million ($97 million), which was a world record fee for a defender.