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Under-fire Harry Maguire says a supportive call from former England captain David Beckham after being hounded at Hampden Park \u201cmeant everything\u201d to him.<\/p>\n
Just over two years after being a Manchester United ever-present and part of the European Championship team of the tournament, the 30-year-old defender now finds himself as the butt of jokes.<\/p>\n
Many opposing fans have revelled in Maguire\u2019s drop off and Scotland supporters goaded him mercilessly after coming on and scoring an own goal in England\u2019s 3-1 win last month.<\/p>\n
Maguire immediately laughed it off as a \u201clittle bit of banter\u201d but hearing from somebody that knows a thing or two about intense criticism meant the world to him.<\/p>\n
Few have faced sharper focus in an England shirt than Beckham, who has laid bare the pain he suffered after his 1998 World Cup red card against Argentina in a new Netflix documentary.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually spoke with David about three weeks ago, after the Scotland game,\u201d Maguire said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe got in touch with me, so it was really nice of him and I really appreciated that. It meant everything. I\u2019ve spoken throughout my career about David Beckham being someone I looked up to and watched when I was a young boy.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, I didn\u2019t end up on the right wing scoring and assisting as many goals as he has. But he was a big role model when I was growing up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows how classy he is to reach out to me and to message me. It was something I really appreciated. It was touching really.\u201d<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CyBX25wIwg8<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going through tough moments you\u2019ve got to go through past experiences and past memories and where you\u2019ve gone in your career and what you\u2019ve been through,\u201d he said at St George\u2019s Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery career is so up and down, especially when you reach what I\u2019ve reached, in terms of being the captain of the biggest club in the world for three and a half years. He\u2019s been in that position and knows what it\u2019s like.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously having watched the documentary I couldn\u2019t believe how much he went through at the time. In the documentary Gary Neville speaks about how resilient he is as a person. I think he\u2019s been a huge role model for many footballers growing up, especially in my era.\u201d<\/p>\n
That chat and his experiences have helped Maguire retain belief and confidence, as has the continued faith shown in him by Gareth Southgate.<\/p>\n
The England boss has been in charge for all 59 of his caps and snapped in Glasgow at treatment he said was \u201cridiculous\u201d, \u201ca joke\u201d and \u201cbeyond anything I\u2019ve ever seen\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try and stay away from it all,\u201d Maguire said, who says he posts on social media but avoids reading online comments.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously you can\u2019t stay away from it as your family and friends are probably seeing things, they probably read a lot more than I do.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, there has been a lot of talk about me over the last year. For that talk to happen, you have got to have built your way up to be a top performer like I\u2019ve done over the previous five years to that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings haven\u2019t gone to plan over the last year or so, but I am sure it will get back on track. A career is a long path. Many ups, many downs, it probably has been a little blip and I am trying to be back to where I was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maguire knows he needs to repay Southgate\u2019s faith by playing more minutes with Euro 2024 looming large and says he can continue to \u201cblock\u201d out any abuse.<\/p>\n
But he knows that is \u201ca bit tougher\u201d for his loved ones and his mother Zoe last month criticised the \u201cdisgraceful\u201d abuse her son has been subjected to, which she claimed went far beyond football.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf she felt like that and wanted to do that, then I fully support her in terms of that,\u201d Maguire said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mum\u2019s been a big part of my career, she\u2019s someone I go to for support and she was in the stands in the Scotland game. She probably felt affected by it and annoyed by it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she is more worried for myself, but I reiterate to her that I am all good and I\u2019m strong mentally and I can deal with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt probably affects (my friends and family) a lot more than it does myself because they obviously do get affected by it but they also worry for me and how I\u2019m dealing with it. But I reiterate to her all the time that I\u2019m good.\u201d<\/p>\n