Everton defender Conor Coady has admitted waiting for his World Cup fate caused the ‘longest week of his life’.
The Blues centre-back was included in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for this winter’s World Cup in Qatar. Coady is one of two Everton representatives included in the 26-man contingent travelling to the tournament, along with Jordan Pickford.
Southgate announced his squad on Thursday, just a couple of days before Everton’s Premier League fixture against Bournemouth. Coady has explained how difficult he found keeping his selection quiet during the days leading up to the announcement.
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“It’s been the longest week of my life, people want to have a conversation with you, and you feel bad at times because I have been telling them ‘I don’t want to speak about it until it’s out on Thursday’," Coady told Evertonfc.com .
He added: “That’s just what I am like. I didn’t want to pre-empt things; I didn’t really want to think about it because it was becoming longer and longer waiting for Thursday. It was tough.
“I was majorly nervous, and when you see the text (confirming selection), it’s not relief, it’s excitement.
“Like ‘how amazing is this? A World Cup for your country’, it’s the most incredible feeling in the world.”
Despite the prospect of travelling to Qatar for the World Cup within the next couple of weeks, Coady is under no illusion of the task facing him and his team-mates at Everton. The centre-back has explained how important Saturday’s clash against Bournemouth is in the context of the Blues’ season.
“This is where we play football, I play football for Everton Football Club. I give myself and the best of what I have got every single day to Everton Football Club,” said Coady.
“The most important thing for me, and I am sure every other England player would tell you the same, is the game this weekend.
He added: “It’s a massive game for us. It’s a huge game and we have spoken about how big it is all week.
“There’s no way at any point can we go into that game thinking about anything else other than performing well against Bournemouth and getting a result.”
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