Marcus Rashford's World Cup tribute was really touching, friend says

Speaking after the game, Rashford said he was "pleased" he scored for his friend

A childhood friend of the man to whom Marcus Rashford dedicated his World Cup brace has said the England player's tribute was "really touching".

The forward pointed to the sky after scoring against Wales on Tuesday and later revealed he was paying tribute to his late friend Garfield Hayward.

Tim Hamnett, 34, from Stretford in Greater Manchester, said the tribute had "cheered a lot of people up".

"I did get a bit upset about it, but in kind of a good way," he said.

Speaking after the 3-0 victory in Qatar, Rashford said he had "lost one of my friends a couple of days ago".

"He had quite a long battle with cancer," he said.

"I'm pleased I scored for him. He was a big supporter and a good friend of mine."

Mr Hamnett, who met Mr Hayward at primary school and lived "on the next street", said a lot of people were "really upset and down at the minute", but what Rashford did in saying it "was for Garf, it has cheered a lot of people up, especially a lot of our close friends".

"A lot of the closer friends knew that he would've dedicated a celebration, so we were just wondering what it was going to be, and what a way to do it," he said.

"It was really touching."

Mr Hamnett's wife Kym, 33, said the forward "was always in touch over the phone, but if it was anything important, he always turned up".

"He never missed anything," she said.

"He was great. Nobody ever had a bad word to say about him. Such a happy person."

She added that Rashford's tribute had a great effect on her two children.

"They saw him as like an uncle and when Rashford scored that was it," she said.

"We knew that celebration was for Garf, so the kids were absolutely ecstatic, jumping about shouting 'yes, Rashford, you've done it for Garf'.

"Today, going to school, they were bouncing off the walls. They couldn't wait to go and tell them what Marcus Rashford had done."