Saka was Southgate’s surprise for Queiroz
The Iranian national team began its first match against England while the opposing team had fond memories of a big victory against Panama in the World Cup in Russia and hoped to repeat such a victory against our national team as their weakest potential opponent. A group of British football experts, especially Paul Merson and others like him, were suggesting specific lineups for the England national team and considered players like Trent Alexander-Arnold as the team’s backbone. Naturally, Harry Kane, as the captain and star of their attacking line, was the first hope for scoring, and Bellingham was expected to be the first hope for the young English players to shine in the midfield.
However, Southgate’s surprise for the experts and even for Queiroz was Bukayo Saka, the creative and diminutive winger from Arsenal, who with his surprising performance in today’s match is now at the top of British sports news. It was clear that the Iranian players did not know how to handle Saka and were visibly caught off guard.