England manager Gareth Southgate has urged Roberto Martinez to include Joe Hart in Belgium’s 23-man World Cup squad.
The Three Lions gaffer has previously selected the West Ham keeper in his own international squads but is now urging his future opponent to consider Hart’s ‘ability’.
This revelation comes after Hart’s magnificent, error-free performance at home to Stoke on Monday night, which drew yet more praise from England fans across the nation.
The 30-year-old somehow managed to save Xherdan Shaqiri’s 79th minute rocket (that definitely wasn’t hit straight at him) but failed to save the follow-up from Peter Crouch, which no keeper could have stopped.
Southgate was present at the London Stadium to witness Hart’s masterclass first hand, and was suitably impressed.
Unofficial England spokesman, Lee Satchell, said: “Oh yeah, Gaz was really happy with Joe tonight.
“I mean, only conceding one goal at home to Stoke? You don’t get much better than that at this level.
“I remember his Man City days — he was pretty good then, but he’s on another level these days.
“It’s a real shame he’s no longer eligible for England due to, er, umm, technicality.”
At this point Mr Satchell muttered ‘basically, he’s s**t’ under his breath.
“Apparently he’s available for Belgium though, which is great news for them.”
“Joe’s great, great, great grandma spent ten days in Brussels once. No point in looking it up, take my word for it.
“Coincidentally, we’ll be playing Belgium at the World Cup this summer.
“And if Roberto Martinez is listening, I can reveal that Harry Kane definitely doesn’t want to face the ultra-reliable Hart in Russia. Got it?”
Incredibly, Martinez has welcomed rumours of Hart’s Belgian ancestry.
“The joke’s on England,” said the Belgium manager’s untrustworthy adviser.
“At the moment we’ve got Simon Mignolet as our back-up keeper.
“We’d take Hart all day long.”
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