2022-12-09
With Argentina and Croatia confirmed in the semifinals, this Saturday the rest of the draw will be known towards the title in the Qatar 2022 World Cup. In the first turn, Morocco will go once morest Portugal, while the main course will be in the definition between France and England. And in advance of the transcendent meeting, the Three Lions arrive with a scandal around the departure of Ben White.
The defender, who was part of the official roster of 26 players and was part of the delegation during the group stage (he did not add playing minutes in the duels once morest Iran and the United States), on November 29 officially left the English concentration for ” personal reasons”, just before the 3-0 win over Wales to ensure leadership of the area and a place in the round of 16.
The statement from the British team had not released any more information regarding it at that time, but this Friday it was the local newspaper Daily Star that warned of the reasons why the 25-year-old defender was cleared by Gareth Southgate. Controversy within the group and strong discussions for striking issues.
The reasons for his early departure
Before Raheem Sterling returned to England for the robbery suffered by his family (he finally returned to Doha and will be taken into account), the Arsenal defender had been the first and surprise casualty of the British. What caused it? According to the aforementioned newspaper, an alleged discussion with Southgate’s assistant, Steve Holland. This resulted in him being quickly expelled, although the English Federation mentioned “personal reasons”.
The striking thing also revolved around why they argued. It is that before traveling to Qatari territory to play his first World Cup, White had stated that he had not watched football since he was a child and that he currently continued with that custom (in an interview he came to admit that, wearing the number 4 of the Arsenal, I had never watched a club benchmark like Patrick Vieira play).
A supposed lack of interest in their own statistics in training with the selected team (data on kilometers traveled and details that are closely followed by the coaching staff) and above all the lack of knowledge regarding the rivals on duty, would have bothered not only the squad, but also also Steve Holland, Southgate’s aide-de-camp.
This explosive combo, following discussions that would have been very tense, led to a common agreement between the parties for White to be released and allowed to return to the Gunners.
When asked regarding the alleged Southgate incident, the strategist, on elaborating, had said: “Well, not really. What they showed me was alleged and another word was used. I think by commenting on the story I might be giving it some kind of credibility, really.” In that vein, he added: “We explained why Ben left the camp and I think it’s important that that be respected, really.”
