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IVAN TONEY looked disheartened while sitting on the bench during England’s match against Senegal.
The forward was reintroduced to the squad by Thomas Tuchel but only featured for eight minutes, including stoppage time, in the encounters against Andorra and Senegal.
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He appeared bewildered while seated on the substitutes’ bench in the 70th minute as Noni Madueke prepared to come on.
ITV commentator Lee Dixon joked: “I might get subbed in before Toney.”
At that point, England was trailing 2-1, and Tuchel had already made substitutions with Morgan Rogers and Morgan Gibbs-White, bypassing Toney.
The Al-Ahli forward had to wait until the 88th minute, even though substitutes Madueke and Jude Bellingham were not able to make a significant impact.
Bellingham did score from close range, but it was disallowed for a handball by Levi Colwill during the build-up, leading to Senegal’s ultimate 3-1 win.
Post-match, Tuchel was questioned about his decision to keep Toney on the bench until the last moments.
He replied: “First, it wasn’t just three minutes.”
“Additionally, I think Ivan performs best in these specific circumstances.
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“We created several opportunities with Morgan Gibbs-White, Ebs [Eberechi Eze], Morgan Rodgers, and Jude in versatile roles.
“I believe Ivan is most effective when there are many balls in the box, which was the situation, so we prepared him after 80 minutes.”
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“Then we scored, but the goal was disallowed, which took longer than we expected, yet that’s his strength—being a presence in the box and a potential goal late in the game.”
Ian Wright and Roy Keane expressed their concerns for Toney after the match, indicating he should have been brought on earlier.
Wright commented on ITV: “He’s seen him all week and didn’t consider putting him in until late. I’m not sure what he observed in training that led to that choice.
“I was genuinely shocked he didn’t come on… I’d be quite disappointed if I were him.”
Keane added: “If you’re Toney and only getting three, four, or five minutes, it’s infuriating.”
