MANCHESTER UNITED’S iconic armband has been worn by the likes of Roy Keane, Nemanja Vidic and Eric Cantona.
And the clash against Partizan was Harry Maguire’s chance to prove that he has what it takes to lead the Red Devils into battle.
Rafael van der Vaart claimed earlier this week that the England centre-back is only as good as Sunday league players.
And Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tried to silence the critics by trusting the former Leicester man with the armband in the absence of Ashley Young.
The United boss has previously claimed the defender has all of the credentials to become the club’s first-choice skipper.
But the under-fire Norwegian could have been left regretting his decision before the game had even started.
Maguire completely forgot his first duty as captain after he led his players out onto the pitch in Belgrade.
He was left red-faced after he forgot the coin toss – which led to the referee desperately calling his name to come back.
Things could only get better after his nightmare start, right? Wrong.
The Partizan striker’s should have been trembling at the thought of coming up against the world’s most expensive defender. But it was quite the opposite.
Seydouba Soumah left Maguire in a heap on the floor on the edge of his own box after the ex-Leicester man lunged into a challenge.
Luckily for the United star, Soumah’s effort was dealt with by Romero.
And Maguire was giving away fouls like they were going out fashion.
David De Gea is the back-up skipper to Young, but Maguire has revealed his ambition to be the permanent skipper.
Earlier this month, he said: “It’s something I still want to improve on, my leadership qualities on the pitch and especially my talking.”
And tonight’s performance has proved he has a long way to go before he can compared to the Old Trafford veterans.
