Kobbie Mainoo stays cool as clamour for England midfield spot grows

Kobbie Mainoo stays cool as clamour for England midfield spot grows
Kobbie Mainoo strolls into the England media conference suite at Blankenhain Castle and it is made known that he has never previously picked up a set of darts. It is not exactly a seething Goodison Park or the Ali Sami Yen Stadium in Istanbul, where in late November the Manchester United midfielder made his first appearances of an extraordinary breakthrough season.
But the media are 3-0 up in the three-dart challenge against Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad and Mainoo’s opponent from the Press Association has looked the part in his warm-ups. Sixty seconds later, Mainoo has won 51-31 and taken his seat for questions, barely blinking.
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Nobody likes to see a journalist go to pieces but this is a story about the composure of one man not yet out of his teens, how he has stared down challenge after challenge and without seemingly raising his pulse.