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Football

09th Jul 2018

Jordan Henderson keeps getting texts from Jurgen Klopp during World Cup

What's "It's coming home" in German?

Darragh Murphy

With Germany eliminated, it sounds like Jurgen Klopp is now rooting for England to go the whole way in Russia.

Klopp would have been hoping that Germany would retain their title at the World Cup but it wasn’t to be as Joachim Low’s side failed to get out of their group.

The Liverpool manager has now seemingly turned his attention to the Three Lions because he’s been sending Jordan Henderson plenty of texts as England progress through the tournament.

“Yeah [regular contact] after games normally, and he’s so happy,” Henderson said prior to the victory over Sweden.

“I just keep seeing texts saying, ‘Yes England! Come on!’ So he’s buzzing that we’re doing well.”

A semi-final meeting with Croatia awaits Gareth Southgate’s team next and a tight hamstring may keep Henderson out of the game in Moscow.

The Liverpool midfielder was replaced by Eric Dier in the final minutes of Saturday’s victory over Sweden and finds himself in a race against time to recover ahead of the Croatia clash.

Having played a crucial role in Southgate’s plans up to this point, Henderson has acknowledged the influence of Liverpool’s run to the Champions League final last season in England’s success in Russia this summer.

“It’s had a big part in my development and obviously the manager at Liverpool has had a massive influence on us as well,” he said.

“Playing in those big games is something special and it gives you confidence to know that you can perform at the very, very top against the best players in the world and I’ve just tried to continue that with England.”