England booked their place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup last night – but Jordan Henderson’s tournament is over after he sustained a freak arm injury.
Thomas Tuchel’s side beat Mexico 3-2 at the Azteca Stadium, prompting scenes of jubilation at the final whistle, and in hundreds of thousands of pubs and homes nationwide.
Jude Bellingham scored twice, with Harry Kane also on target.
How has Thomas Tuchel taken Jordan Henderson over James Garner? 😡
Everton’s Jordan Pickford delivered a fantastic performance between the sticks, which was great to see after an iffy first few games.
But one man who couldn’t enjoy the full celebration was Jordan Henderson, who was seen taking a very nasty fall as he tried to vault the advertising hoarding.
He’s now out of the tournament, and some have wondered if Tuchel can call on a replacement, with James Garner’s name being mentioned by a few.
Why James Garner cannot replace injured Jordan Henderson for England
In short, sadly it’s not possible for Garner to make a late entrance into the England squad to replace Henderson.
As per the Evening Standard, England will now have to continue with a 25-man squad, with rules stating that the final deadline to officially name a replacement is up to 24 hours before a nation’s opening group match.
England’s first group stage game was against Croatia on June 17.
Of course, Tino Livramento picked up a calf injury on the eve of the tournament, and given the timing England were able to call up Trevoh Chalobah as his replacement.
But we are now well past the deadline for nations to bring in replacements for injured players, and Tuchel therefore cannot make a move for Garner even if he wanted to.
And given Tuchel had called Garner up to his final camp in March and had praised the Everton man, the German would surely consider it if the rules allowed replacements at this stage.
Garner missed out on the final squad, but surely had to have come very close. Tuchel is a big fan of the player, and even branded him England’s ‘mini (Federico) Valverde’ after his debut against Uruguay.
Given all the issues England have also had at right-back, it really is quite a shame that Garner – who won Everton’s Player of the Season award – did ultimately miss out.
Because the way things have panned out up to this point, he actually might have gotten some minutes out in North America.
Hopefully, the likes of Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson and Jude Bellingham can stay fit, as Tuchel doesn’t seem overly keen to use Kobbie Mainoo. That may now change following the injury to Henderson
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