Jarrod Bowen believes he was fortunate to escape serious injury on a shocking Frankfurt pitch during England’s draw with Denmark, revealing he feared he had broken his ankle within minutes of coming off the bench.
A visibly poor surface at the Deutsche Bank Park cut up badly from the early stages of Thursday’s Group C meeting. Several England players were seen struggling with their footing, with right-back Kyle Walker needing a change of boots in the opening exchanges.
Bowen came on as part of a wholesale refresh of England’s front-line midway through the second-half as Gareth Southgate pushed for a winner, but says he was very nearly forced straight off - and potentially out of the tournament.
“I thought I had broken my ankle in the first two minutes when I came on,” the West Ham forward said. “It was definitely difficult, it’s not an excuse in the slightest, but I think Walks had a couple in the first 10 minutes and you could see the chunks of ground coming up a bit like a bad divot if you hit a bad golf shot.
“I was probably running a bit too fast for my brain, turned around and got my foot stuck and I thought, ‘Oh no, I’m in trouble here’, but luckily I got away with it.
"It was one of those pitches where you can get your foot caught in the ground and it can come up against you.”
As with several teammates in the aftermath of the underwhelming 1-1 draw, Bowen insisted he “wouldn’t want to use [the pitch] as an excuse” for England’s dismal performance.
However, he admitted that the close shave played on his mind as he tried to make an impact late in the game.
“It definitely makes you think if you’re sprinting and you need to slow down a bit before you get to the target where you are,” he added. “But it was certainly a welcome to the game for me to sprint after the ball and nearly twist my ankle out of place.”
