Joe Cole praises Marcus Rashford after his first-half performance for England versus North Macedonia

Joe Cole was full of praise for Marcus Rashford after the Manchester United star put in an excellent first half for England against North Macedonia.

Playing at his home club’s stadium at Old Trafford, Rashford was outstanding in the first 45 minutes and was among the goalscorers as England went into half time leading 3–0.

Rashford, deployed on the left wing, caused all sorts of problems for the North Macedonia defense with his impressive runs and flair.

“Rashford was excellent, he missed the game against Malta, but he would always be the one to break through,” former international Cole said on Channel 4. He’s so direct, he was so smart, he hung around in different positions that gave him the ball fed them, he gave them a torrid time.

“Look at this for immediacy, no space, I’m still going to go head to head with you. He can come in, great balance, put him in a blender. This was all in the first 20 minutes. When you play against a player with this kind of speed, this kind of agility, you can’t stop him. It would always be Rashford who made the difference.’

Rashford had an excellent season for United, scoring 17 goals in the Premier League.

However, he faces a struggle as he tries to reinstate himself in the starting line-up for England.

Jack Grealish, who was part of Manchester City’s treble-winning side, has established himself as England’s first choice on the left wing.

Cole stated that Rashford would start when the European Championships started tomorrow, but insisted a lot could change.

Cole said: ‘I think it’s tough, Rashford had injury issues, but right now he’s electric. If England started Euro 2000 tomorrow, of course he would start, but things could change.’

Steven Gerrard described the battle for a starting spot between Grealish and Rashford as ‘a shootout’.

Gerrard said, ‘Grealish is in with a shout, it’s a gunfight between those two. Rashford gives you that immediacy in the back.”