Kyle Walker beams at ‘fantastic’ honour after the Manchester City star captains England for the first time against North Macedonia in Harry Kane’s absence

• Kyle Walker captained England for the first time in his career on Monday evening
• The 33-year-old was given the Three Lions armband against North Macedonia
• Trent and Bellingham can play together but can’t get in each other’s way – IAKO

Kyle Walker described being made England captain for the first time in Monday’s 1-1 draw against North Macedonia as a ‘fantastic moment’.

The Manchester City and Three Lions veteran was given the armband by Gareth Southgate in the absence of Harry Kane who started the game on the bench.

It was the first time Walker had been given the honour of leading the national team out and couldn’t hide his delight after the match that resulted in England topping their European Championship qualifying group.

Walker is viewed as a leader in both the club and country set-ups and produced another typically solid performance in Skopje against lower-ranked opposition.   

‘I think after the qualification we had it would always be tough coming here,’ Walker told Channel 4 after the match.

Kyle Walker captained England for the first time on Monday evening against North Macedonia

Walker was given the captaincy armband in the absence of Harry Kane who started on the bench

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‘We dug in and got a point, wanted to take three but things happen in football.

‘It was a fantastic moment for myself and my family,’ he added while describing his captaincy experience.’

The 33-year-old is one of the most experienced players in the England camp having won every major club honour with Man City, most notably the Treble last season.

Walker has regularly skippered Man City but had to wait for his first England armband

He has regularly skippered City and was named in September by club manager Pep Guardiola as one of five captains at the reigning Premier League champions. 

The defender confirmed that the captaincy will be shared between a five-man leadership group after former captain Ilkay Gundogan vacated the armband when he left the club to join Barcelona.

Walker demonstrated his experience at helping bleed through new talent by starring alongside his City colleague Rico Lewis as he made his senior England debut on the same evening.

Analysing his team-mates performance, Walker said of Lewis: ‘He is a great lad, shows day in day out his qualifiers and to pay for team like we have he deserves this cap.’

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