Under-fire Harry Maguire says a supportive call from former England captain David Beckham after being hounded at Hampden Park “meant everything” to him. Just over two years after being a Manchester United ever-present and part of the European Championship team of the tournament, the 30-year-old defender now finds himself as the butt of jokes. Many opposing fans have revelled in Maguire’s drop off and Scotland supporters goaded him mercilessly after coming on and scoring an own goal in England’s 3-1 win last month. Maguire immediately laughed it off as a “little bit of banter” but hearing from somebody that knows a thing or two about intense criticism meant the world to him. Few have faced sharper focus in an England shirt than Beckham, who has laid bare the pain he suffered after his 1998 World Cup red card against Argentina in a new Netflix documentary. “I actually spoke with David about three weeks ago, after the Scotland game,” Maguire said. “He got in touch with me, so it was really nice of him and I really appreciated that. It meant everything. I’ve spoken throughout my career about David Beckham being someone I looked up to and watched when I was a young boy. “Unfortunately, I didn’t end up on the right wing scoring and assisting as many goals as he has. But he was a big role model when I was growing up. “It shows how classy he is to reach out to me and to message me. It was something I really appreciated. It was touching really.” “You’re going through tough moments you’ve got to go through past experiences and past memories and where you’ve gone in your career and what you’ve been through,” he said at St George’s Park. “Every career is so up and down, especially when you reach what I’ve reached, in terms of being the captain of the biggest club in the world for three and a half years. He’s been in that position and knows what it’s like. “Obviously having watched the documentary I couldn’t believe how much he went through at the time. In the documentary Gary Neville speaks about how resilient he is as a person. I think he’s been a huge role model for many footballers growing up, especially in my era.” That chat and his experiences have helped Maguire retain belief and confidence, as has the continued faith shown in him by Gareth Southgate. The England boss has been in charge for all 59 of his caps and snapped in Glasgow at treatment he said was “ridiculous”, “a joke” and “beyond anything I’ve ever seen”. “I try and stay away from it all,” Maguire said, who says he posts on social media but avoids reading online comments. “Obviously you can’t stay away from it as your family and friends are probably seeing things, they probably read a lot more than I do. “Yeah, there has been a lot of talk about me over the last year. For that talk to happen, you have got to have built your way up to be a top performer like I’ve done over the previous five years to that. “Things haven’t gone to plan over the last year or so, but I am sure it will get back on track. A career is a long path. Many ups, many downs, it probably has been a little blip and I am trying to be back to where I was.” Maguire knows he needs to repay Southgate’s faith by playing more minutes with Euro 2024 looming large and says he can continue to “block” out any abuse. But he knows that is “a bit tougher” for his loved ones and his mother Zoe last month criticised the “disgraceful” abuse her son has been subjected to, which she claimed went far beyond football. “If she felt like that and wanted to do that, then I fully support her in terms of that,” Maguire said. “My mum’s been a big part of my career, she’s someone I go to for support and she was in the stands in the Scotland game. She probably felt affected by it and annoyed by it. “But she is more worried for myself, but I reiterate to her that I am all good and I’m strong mentally and I can deal with it. “It probably affects (my friends and family) a lot more than it does myself because they obviously do get affected by it but they also worry for me and how I’m dealing with it. But I reiterate to her all the time that I’m good.” Read More I want to play – Harry Maguire admits lack of matches will become an issue England forward Ollie Watkins: I no longer go shopping due to recognition Conor McGregor closes in on UFC return by re-entering anti-doping test programme England rewatch Fiji Twickenham defeat to ‘fuel the fire’ for World Cup showdown Kieffer Moore bags a brace as Wales put four past Gibraltar in Wrexham Steve Clarke confident Scotland’s best performance is good enough to match Spain

A coalition of professional sports teams in Missouri is backing a new proposal to put the legalization of sports betting on the 2024 ballot

Mikel Arteta admits to doubting his ability as a manager after Arsenal lost the Premier League title race to Man City.

Russia on Thursday extended by three months the detention of Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, defying pleas for the release of the reporter arrested...

The new Apple Pencil USB-C is the long-awaited refresh for the stylus and follows the

Oregon's Democratic U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer has announced that he won't be running for reelection next year

Virginia regulators are expected to take a final vote on whether to advance Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s plan to withdraw from a multistate carbon cap-and-trade program

Almost 70 deaths were reported in four days from just one district in Uttar Pradesh state.

Rocco Becht passed for 348 yards and three touchdowns as Iowa State held on to beat Oklahoma State 34-27 in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams

The Denver Broncos scored a touchdown on a toe-tap catch in the back corner of the end zone against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football.

Doctors blasted New Zealand’s conservative government on Tuesday for revoking world-leading anti-smoking laws, warning that people will die over the...

The WYBOT S100 is a pool cleaning robot that climb up walls and clean multiple