Ivory Coast manager reveals the real reason behind Wilfried Zaha’s absence from England friendly

Wilfried Zaha was absent with an injury that will concern Crystal Palace fans as the Ivory Coast lost 3-0 to England at Wembley.

First half goals from Ollie Watkins and Raheem Sterling gave the Three Lions a comfortable 2-0 lead before a late header from Tyrone Mings sealed a one sided affair at Wembley, and gave Gareth Southgate an impressive a 3-0 win.

In fairness-the competitiveness of the game was lost the very moment former Tottenham left-back Serge Aurier was sent off after receiving two yellow cards in quick succession in the first half.

England are building a winning machine that will be capable of taking on some of the best countries in the world and the gulf in class told as Gareth Southgate’s men strolled through the second half with the Ivorians chasing shadows.

The one worry for Crystal Palace fans watching the game would be the absence of their star man Wilfried Zaha who missed the game despite all the build up being around him and his chance to show England what they were missing.

In the end, he was sat on the bench as his side got a proper schooling and Eagles fans would biting their nails and hoping it’s nothing major.

The South London side are entering the crucial stage of the season with games against top four chasing Arsenal and an FA Cup semi-final against European Champions Chelsea at Wembley.

Zaha had a blistering second half of the season with Palace, scoring 10 goals and playing with a smile on his face.

What the Ivorian head coach said

There had be concerns on what was the reason behind Zaha’s absence with some thinking it had to do with discipline, but manager Patrice Beaumelle revealed the Crystal Palace man had a hamstring issue.

He said after the defeat to England: “After the gamer against France, Zaha felt something in his leg and when he returned he went straight to have a test and it revealed a grade one to two hamstring so we could not have him with us.”

Palace take on Arsenal, Leicester and Everton before going to Wembley to play Chelsea at the FA Cup semi-final stage.