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Ben White had an eventful evening at Wembley as he made his first appearance for England since 2022.
The Arsenal defender had made himself unavailable for selection after a fallout with the previous management during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar nearly four years ago.
White came under a lot of criticism for his decision, but he is now back under Thomas Tuchel and came on as a substitute against Uruguay on Friday night.
His defensive partner, Harry Maguire, seemed to like what he saw from the Arsenal number four.
Does Ben White deserve an England recall?
Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Should Ben White be picked ahead of Reece James, Trent Alexander-Arnold or Tino Livramento for England? Pick England’s best two right-backs in the comments…
Harry Maguire praises Ben White’s performance for England vs Uruguay
A section of England fans at Wembley booed Ben White when he came on in the 69th minute.
The Arsenal star replaced Fikayo Tomori in the heart of the defence, a position he hasn’t played in a long time because he is used as a right-back at the Emirates.
White looked solid at the back for the most part and then had the biggest impact of the game in the opposite box.
The former Brighton man scored his first-ever goal for the Three Lions from close range. That looked like it was going to be the winner, but White conceded a penalty at the other end in the dying minutes of the game.
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
It was an eventful evening, to say the least, for White, but Maguire still seemed impressed with his display.
The Manchester United man said, as quoted by Chris Wheatly on X: “A bit crazy, scoring the first goal. I thought he was brilliant when he came on.
“I can’t say anything about the defending for that one [the penalty]. If that were me in that position, I’d be attempting to block the shot as well. That’s what we’ve got to do. That’s a real soft penalty.
“He’s been good all week, a big smile on his face, and he’s brought great energy to the camp. He got his rewards tonight with the goal, and I thought he was brilliant when he came on.”
How would you rate Ben White’s performance on his England return vs Uruguay?
Scored a goal, conceded a penalty and picked up a yellow card all in 21 minutes
Credit: Getty Images/Molly Darlington Arsenal’s Ben White deserves to play for England
A lot has been said about White’s recall to the England squad, most of which has been negative.
However, Thomas Tuchel clearly doesn’t care about that noise, and the fact that he gave him minutes against Uruguay shows he is very much in the plans.
We think it is a no-brainer for England to have White in their squad. When the defender is fit, he is up there with the best in the country – in two different positions.
White is incredible at both centre-half and right-back, and if the Arsenal defender has the confidence of his manager, we think he can be a starter for the Three Lions at the World Cup in the summer.
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