Harry Maguire blasts 'ridiculous penalty' as England draw Uruguay

Harry Maguire made it clear what he thought of the stoppage-time penalty that allowed Uruguay to walk out of Wembley Stadium with a 1-1 draw against England on Friday.

"It's soft."

Maguire played the full 90 minutes of Friday's friendly, which featured a heavily rotated Three Lions side as Thomas Tuchel looks to run the rule over his full squad during this international break. And the play was disjointed at times with many of the regular starters in the stands against the South Americans, which didn't surprise the experienced defender.

However, Maguire felt that England were still the superior side for most of the match, and that the late penalty decision negatively affected the work put in by the Three Lions.

"I thought that we controlled the whole game really, they didn't create a chance," Maguire told ITV. "We could have been better, we know that.

"When we made changes we lost a bit of the rhythm with the game plan but that is what happens in these games when you make changes on 60-70 minutes. But we had control of the game, they didn't really get in our box, and then it's a ridiculous penalty." 

It was Ben White who was judged to have fouled a Uruguayan attacker inside the England penalty area moments before the final whistle, making the full-back's 20-minute cameo an eventful one after he scored the game's opening goal in the 82nd minute. For Maguire, his teammate was simply trying to make a football play and the VAR-aided decision was a harsh one.

"He's kicked the ball over the bar," Maguire said. "Ben just goes to try to block the shot. It's not a bad tackle, it's not malicious.

"It's part and parcel of defending in the box, there is going to be contact."

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