NEW DELHI:
Marcus Rashford
’s fame goes well beyond football. On the pitch, the
Manchester United and England forward is a livewire, poaching and creating goals with abandon. Off the turf, the 23-year-old is a beacon of hope for the poor and homeless.
His work for hungry children during the Corona pandemic last year has earned him universal applause and an MBE from the Queen. He has been championing many worthwhile causes with relentless dedication just as he has been focusing on making goals galore for Manchester United.
In an exclusive interaction with TOI on Zoom, Rashford spoke on the issues close to his heart. Excerpts:Manchester United are doing very strongly in the Premier League and are second in the table behind Man City. Do you think it’s going to be a two-club race for the title?I think it’s very open right now, very up and down for a lot of teams. We’ve to concentrate on ourselves to swing games and pick up points.
Some of the younger players have been shining for United lately...It’s a good mix between young and experienced players, those who have played big matches and have won big trophies. It’s a quite well-balanced squad. It’s about getting the best out of each individual. As long as we can do that, we will find ways to win games. It’s important to go into matches with the mentality that you could win it.
How has manager Solskjaer helped you grow as a player?It’s been good to have a positive-thinking manager behind us who always wants us to play forward and play exciting football and just express ourselves on the field. That’s what we’re trying to do. He still wants to achieve many of his goals as a manager and to be at Man United means a special thing to him.
Who has been your footballing influence growing up?I used to watch a lot of
Wayne Rooney and
Cristiano Ronaldo when they were together at United. It was a beautiful sight to see them do what they did on the pitch. As a United academy player, I used to watch them and they were the favourites.
You have been doing some wonderful humanitarian work. What drives you?Every little thing that people do to help makes a big difference. People are in need of help. For me, it’s so much going on outside of football in general. If we can help people then why not do that. That pushes me to do things off the pitch. On the pitch too, it’s the same — it’s about the team, about me improving and being the best that I can be for the team.
Your thoughts on United We Play, the programme Apollo Tyres
and Man United are running in India.The programme is a great thing. Our young footballers were supposed to go to India last year but couldn’t because of the pandemic. It helps both, the players who play there and the kids who learn so much from them. For me, it would have been a great opportunity if I could have been part of the programme and played there (India).
United are very popular in India...Yes, I would like to thank people there for supporting us. Things are not good at the moment with fans being kept out of the stadiums. But we know there are fans across the world who are supporting us and that is what keeps us players going.
Start a Conversation
Post comment