James Maddison left red-faced as Joe Cole brutally mocks England star for gaffe
Joe Cole made fun of James Maddison after a hilarious clip of him wrestling with a water bottle prior to England 's narrow 1-0 win over Australia was shown on television.
Maddison, 26, was named in the Three Lions' starting XI on Friday night against the Socceroos, who were beaten courtesy of a second-half strike from the in-form Ollie Watkins. Maddison and Watkins were joined by plenty of other players bidding to stake a claim for a starting role ahead of next summer's European Championships at Wembley.
But while Maddison's early season form for Tottenham has caught the eye in recent weeks, a snippet of him being left seemingly baffled by a water bottle went viral ahead of the game.
Maddison was seen holding the bottle to his mouth but seemed unaware as to why water was squirting out in front of him instead of into his mouth. The clip quickly gathered traction on social media and was even picked up on by Cole, who was analysing Friday night's match for Channel 4.
After host Jules Breach and Jill Scott had picked up on Maddison's mishap, Cole quipped: “I was playing golf with James the other day and on his first shot, I don’t think he made it past the women’s tee, so hopefully he’ll put in a better performance today.”
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When he was shown the clip after the game Maddison insisted he was attempting to squirt a staff member out of shot in a light-hearted moment. He was far more serious, though, when he was asked about a rare start for his country.
Join the debate! What did you make of Maddison's performance vs Australia? Let us know here.
A clip of James Maddison mucking around with water bottle went viral on Friday night (Channel 4)Speaking after the match, Maddison said: “England is the pinnacle and I never want to take that for granted. If you get given that opportunity to wear the shirt, you have to take it with both hands. Whether it’s off the left, right or central, it’ll be a great occasion and we can secure qualification with a good result on Tuesday night. That’s the aim and that’s the focus.”
The Three Lions will lock horns with Italy in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Tuesday night at Wembley in a rematch of the Euro 2020 final, which Italy won on penalties. And Maddison admitted that England will be out to settle some old scores.
When he was asked if that would be the case, he said: “Definitely a little bit. That was the message when we played Italy in Naples back in March. England hadn’t won in Italy for ages so there was that record that we were hungry to put to bed and we managed to do it. I am sure the lads will be highly motivated after what happened last time.”
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