England and Leicester midfielder James Maddison withdraws from Euro 2020 qualifiers
England will qualify for Euro 2020 if they beat the Czech Republic this Friday
This Friday, England will face the Czech Republic at the Sinobo Stadium in Prague for a Euro 2020 qualifier tie. England midfielder James Maddison has withdrawn from the national squad ahead of the encounter because of an illness.
As of now, Maddison has yet to make his debut for the senior English team. Although he decided to opt-out for the rest of the Euro 2020 qualifiers, England coach Gareth Southgate isn't interested in replacing him with someone else yet. The 22-year old Leicester City midfielder will still be a part of the 23-man England squad.
England is looking forward to sealing their spot in Euro 2020. To do that, they need to beat the Czech Republic this Friday. The Three Lions have back-to-back Euro 2020 qualifying matches lined up. Once they are done with the Czech Republic in Prague, they would then travel to Sofia, where Bulgaria will be waiting to face them.
According to sources, England supporters might be disappointed to see their Monday game against Bulgaria being called off. As reported by CBS Sports, English players have decided to walk out of the match in Sofia if any of their players get targeted by racist comments. In this case, England has decided to take the action into its own hands rather than waiting for UEFA to intervene.
In a recent interview, Chelsea and England striker Tammy Abraham said, "We've had meetings about it, and we've touched base on how to deal with the situation. Harry Kane even said that if it happens and we're not happy with it, we all come off the pitch together. It's a team thing. Don't isolate one person. Harry did ask the question about instead of going through the three steps – if we decide that we want to stop the game, no matter what the score is – if we're not happy as a team we'll decide whether or not to stay on the pitch."
Currently, England is positioned at the top of the Group A standings with 12 points. The Czech Republic is at number two position with 9 points. Kosovo sits in third.
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