World Cup 2022: Why Harry Maguire and Harry Kane are made of the right stuff for England

The same can be said about England's leader at the top end.

No-one does scapegoating quite like the English. It was Maguire's turn not so long back and ahead of Tuesday evening's final group game against Wales, Harry Kane is in focus alongside Mason Mount.

The contributions of both were highlighted in Friday's admittedly hard watch versus the USA. Kane has yet to produce a shot on target in the World Cup, it was said – with the excellence of his build-up play in the opener against Iran conveniently glossed over.

Like Maguire, Kane is a tough cookie mentally and will crack on.Maguire's fortitude will come as no surprise to those who know him the best alongside Gareth Southgate.

The England manager's faith in sticking with the Yorkshireman – despite his travails at Manchester United – have been rewarded.

By common consent, he was England's best player against the States in his milestone 50th appearance for his country.

He had to be and his aerial qualities in particular will be sought should ex-Barnsley and Rotherham United striker Kieffer Moore start for Wales tonight.

While many got twitchy, Southgate stayed steadfast. After Friday's game, he said he'd 'never had a single doubt' about Maguire, named in the Team of the Tournament at last year’s Euro's.

Southgate's loyalty is something that the country's most successful international manager in Sir Alf Ramsey, a individual who was as unflinching and immovable as they come, would have surely doffed his cap to.

Maguire's successive starts for England were his first since the games against Italy and Germany in late September. His last back-to-back appearances for his club were in the first half of August.

Captain of United, Maguire was bombed by Erik ten Hag just two league games into the season. The Dutchman's admission that he’d implemented a ‘leadership group’ as opposed to relying on one captain was a further shot across his bows.

Maguire stayed strong and so did Southgate, even after his rusty display versus the Germans in the final game before Qatar when a clumsy challenge led to an unnecessary penalty.

Team-mates rallied around, including Kane, who said Maguire was 'playing on one leg' late on when he soldiered on after a heavy knock.

Kane, as opposed to Maguire, is now getting the knocks, metaphorically, from his dissenters.

Like Maguire, brought up in the hard yards of the EFL alongside Chris Morgan and Neill Collins at Bramall Lane, Kane is made of the right stuff and has been here before.

Kane showed his mettle in heading out of his comfort zone to Millwall in his early days. The pain of rejection when he was a youngster at Arsenal was also channelled into a positive in his formative years.

There was similar noise in the Euros before Kane struck against Germany. He is not one to be doubted and don't expect Southgate to have any.