Comeback kid

England were beginning to find their rhythm as Luke Shaw sent in a high, outswinging corner. Harry Maguire was perfectly positioned to head it down towards the penalty spot. And there was Bukayo Saka, swivelling to take the ball on his left foot and send a glorious volley looping into the top right-hand corner of the net. Go-o-oal!

There was plenty more to come from England's 21-year-old forward. In the second half he took a pass on the edge of the Iranian area, moved inside two defenders and shot past four more to score his second goal.

"Iran found the Arsenal man near unplayable," wrote Jonathan Northcroft in the Times. "When he got the ball, his ability to do anything - cross, shoot or dribble - terrorised Iran's defenders."

Gareth SouthgateAs a player he appeared 57 times for England. He became the team's manager in 2016, and guided it to the World Cup semi-finals two years later.'s choice of Saka ahead of Phil Foden had been controversial. Saka's performance not only justified his manager's decision, but helped lay the ghosts of England's defeat by Italy in the Euro 2020 final. On that day, Saka was one of three England players to miss in the penalty shoot-out.     

The failure was followed by a torrentAn overwhelming outpouring. of racial abuse on social media. Saka spoke out against Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for allowing it,¹ but refused to let it get to him. "I knew instantly the kind of hate that I was about to receive," he said. "I will not let that moment or the negativity I have received this week break me."

"Saka possesses a kind of inner strength that is so uncommon in a player of his age," says Andrew Mangan, who runs an Arsenal fansite. "From the moment he arrived on the first team scene, he looked at home, never flustered, never overawed."

Saka was born in London to Nigerian parents who brought him up as a PentecostalA Christian movement emphasising baptism in the Holy Spirit. Christian. "When you're younger, you don't fully understand [religion]," he says. "But throughout life, you keep exercising your faith, so when you get into different challenges, you decide, 'This time I'm going to trust God,' and God comes through for you... that's why a lot of times I can be fearless."

He started at Arsenal's academy when he was only seven, but did not let it interfere with his education, ending up with four A*s and three As in his GCSEsNational exams taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. . "He was so lovely, very hardworking, always did his best," one of his teachers remembers. "He was very responsible and showed a lot of care and consideration for others... he was never big-headed, he was very grounded." 

He made his first-team debut for Arsenal at just 17, and two years later was picked for England. But despite his meteoric success, he is still able to laugh at himself: one video he posted shows him falling off an inflatable unicorn in a swimming pool.

All eyes will be on him again at 7pm on Friday, when England kick off against the USA in a game that could see them through to the next round. "Saka embodies the best of what a player can be," writes Musa Okwonga in GQ. "Confident without being arrogant, wide-eyed in wonder at the glorious world in which he has found himself."

Is character more important than talent?

Yes: There are endless examples of people who have been hugely talented in sport and other fields, but have failed to reach their full potential because they lacked self-discipline and resilience.

No: You can try as hard as you like, but without talent you are never going to succeed in your chosen field. Saka would never had made the England team if he had not been exceptionally gifted.  

Or... Both are equally important. Talent could be compared to a car, and character to its driver: however impressive they are individually, neither is going to get anywhere without the other.