Chris Smalling's Wife Sends Defiant Message on Social Media After Hubby Misses out On England Squad

Chris Smalling's Wife Sends Defiant Message on Social Media After Hubby Misses out On England Squad

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:16 PM
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  • Chris Smalling was not included in England’s final 26-man squad for the World Cup
  • This is despite the Roma defender improving tremendously under Jose Mourinho
  • Smalling’s wife reacted to his snub on social media with a defiant message

Chris Smalling’s wife has taken to social media to celebrate her husband despite his exclusion from the England World Cup squad.

Gareth Southgate has been a hit topic of conversation since Thursday, November 10 after he announced his final 26-man squad for the World Cup, with some surprise inclusions.

It is in the defensive areas that has been subject to controversy, as Southgate went for Harry Maguire and Eric Dier, at the expense of some big names like AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori.

There was also no room for Smalling, who has been thriving under Jose Mourinho.

Chris Smalling, Roma, England
Chris Smalling of AS Roma gestures during the Serie A match between AS Roma and SS Lazio at Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy on 6 November 2022.
Source: Getty Images

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The former Manchester United star’s wife Sam clearly did not appreciate the snub, and she took to her social media to share some interesting stats.

Sam shared Opta’s stats which seemed to suggest Smalling was one of the best-performing centre backs.

She accompanied her findings with the message: "The highest performing English central defender in Europe this season."

Smalling fell out of favour in the England squad, and has not featured for The Three Lions since 2017.

So far in his career, the 32-year old has 31 international caps.

Southgate on his decision.

Earlier, Sports Brief reported on Gareth Southgate’s interesting explanation on why he went for the players he selected to head to Qatar.

According to the England boss, in defence, he went for experience.

"The younger ones have good qualities, but we don’t think they’ve quite done enough to push the experienced ones out.” He said.
"Maguire? He is one of our best central defenders, even though we have many players who are playing at the level required to be part of the English national team."
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Rene Otinga photo
Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.
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