Luke Shaw has revealed his grandmother passed away shortly on the eve of the World Cup and hopes to use her memory as motivation to excel in Qatar.
The Manchester United full-back started all three of England’s group matches, playing the full 90 minutes against Iran and USA before being substituted after 65 minutes against Wales on Tuesday.
Speaking after that 3-0 win, Shaw said his grandma passed away just before the tournament started after battling cancer.
While England manager Gareth Southgate offered him time off, he chose to stay with the squad.
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Shaw told The Athletic, “My Nan sadly passed away before the competition. She had cancer for a long while and unfortunately she passed away just before the first game.
‘But of course Gareth was really good with me, spoke to me and said: Is everything ok?’ If I need to have time away just focus on that.
‘But I’m here, this World Cup means so much to me and I didn’t want to miss anything.’
When asked if he is using her memory as a source of motivation in Qatar, Shaw replied, She was a really important part of my childhood. I spent a lot of time with her.
‘Unfortunately … she had cancer for a long while and suffered a lot, so it had been a long thing. But I’ve had time to grieve and fully focus on the World Cup.’
England qualified as group winners after defeating Wales 3-0, and will face Senegal in the last 16 on Sunday.
Marcus Rashford, Shaw’s United teammate, scored twice on the night, extending his tournament total to three.
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