What happened?
The Liverpool right-back cleared the ball downfield in the closing stages of England’s 1-0 friendly win over Austria on Wednesday night, but appeared to injure his left leg doing so.
He immediately signalled to the England bench that he was not fit to see out the match and gingerly returned to the dugout with the England medical staff.
What was the reaction?
England said in a statement on Thursday night: “Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out of UEFA Euro 2020.
The Liverpool player sustained a thigh injury in the closing stages of Wednesday’s 1-0 win against Austria in Middlesbrough.
“A scan on Thursday confirmed the 22 year old will be unable to play in the forthcoming tournament so he’s withdrawn from the England squad to return to his club for rehabilitation.”
After the match England manager Southgate said Alexander-Arnold’s injury would be assessed on Thursday, but admitted seeing the right-back limp off against Austria was “not a good sign”.
Southgate said: “We’ve got to see, it’s obviously not a good sign that he’s had to walk off the pitch, and he was in some discomfort.
“We’re so close to the finals that for any player, injuries makes them a doubt. But we will just have to see over the next 48 hours.”
What next?
Alexander-Arnold will say his goodbyes to his England team-mates and depart the squad’s camp on Thursday night.
He will then focus on recovering from the injury.
Southgate will now call up an additional player to replace Alexander-Arnold in England’s 26-man squad.
Jesse Lingard, James Ward-Prowse, Ollie Watkins, Aaron Ramsdale, Ben Godfrey and Ben White were all cut from England’s Euro 2020 squad earlier this week.
(Photo: Peter Powell – Pool/Getty Images)
