Soccer Africa

‘Selfish’ Henderson criticised after England penalty miss

The England captain’s missed spot kick leaves him waiting for his first goal for the Three Lions

England captain Jordan Henderson was branded “selfish” after he missed a second-half penalty in Sunday’s 1-0 win against Romania.

A spot kick from Marcus Rashford after 68 minutes won the fixture for the Three Lions, but the return of the Liverpool midfielder after a four-month absence set tongues wagging on social media for the wrong reasons.

Henderson pulled rank on Dominic Calvert-Lewin to hit the spot kick, but saw his modest effort comfortably stopped. It led to an inevitable deluge of criticism on social media.

What did the fans say?

The reaction to the miss was not particularly understanding, even though Henderson is now the most-capped midfielder without an England goal.