Harry Kane attacks eight England stars who withdrew from the squad | Football | Sport

Harry Kane has criticized his England teammates and accused them of shirking their national duties after eight players withdrew from the squad ahead of the Nations League clashes with Greece and the Republic of Ireland.

The captain has suggested that these players have taken advantage of the uncertainty in the national team’s set-up before new manager Thomas Tuchel’s tenure begins in 2024.

England’s all-time top scorer expressed his disappointment and said playing for your country should take precedence over club interests.

The Three Lions skipper told ITV: “I think it’s a pleasure to play for England. I think he (Gareth Southgate) brought that back. I think all the camp people were excited to come, all the camp people for England wanted to play and, yes, that’s the most important thing.

“I think England comes before everything. England comes before club.

“England is the main place you play as a professional footballer and Gareth was enthusiastic about that and he wasn’t afraid to make decisions if that started to go away with certain players.

“It is of course a shame this week. Yes, look, I think it’s a difficult period of the season and yes, maybe that has been taken advantage of a little bit.

“If I’m completely honest, I don’t like it that much. I think, as I just said, England goes for everything, regardless of the club situation.”

Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-ArnoldLevi Colwill, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Cole PalmerJack Grealish and Phil Foden all withdrew from the squad this week.

They have been replaced by five players: Morgan Rogers, Tino Livramento, Jarrad Branthwaite, Jarrod Bowen and James Trafford.

Newcastle star Hall says interim manager Lee Carsley has made it clear what he expects from the squad after several no-shows.

The full-back explained: “From what he (Carsley) said to us, his focus and our focus is purely on these two games because they are important games.

“We are second in the rankings. We want to finish the camp first. So we have two big games ahead of us. We know how important the match against Greece will be, because of where they are in the rankings .

“A match against Ireland is always important. So these are two big games for us and we will try to win them both.”