Maguire defends 'brilliant' Ben White after mixed England return

England's Ben White reacts
England's Ben White reactsAction Images via Reuters / Andrew Couldridge

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire was full of praise for Ben White after his England comeback game on Friday night.

Arsenal defender White opened the scoring on his England recall, though he conceded a late penalty, which was converted by Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde for Uruguay.

Maguire said at the final whistle: "A bit crazy, scoring the first goal. I thought he was brilliant when he came on.

"I can't say anything about the defending for that one (the penalty) - if that was me in that position I'd be attempting to block the shot as well. That's what we've got to do. That's a real soft penalty.

"He's been good all week, a big smile on his face and he's brought great energy to the camp. He got his rewards tonight with the goal, and I thought he was brilliant when he came on."

He also said: "I thought that we controlled the whole game really, they didn't create a chance.

"We could have been better, we know that. When we made changes, we lost a bit of the rhythm with the game plan, but that is what happens in these games when you make changes on 60-70 minutes.

"But we had control of the game, they didn't really get in our box, and then it's a ridiculous penalty."

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