Comeback kid

England were beginning to find their rhythm as Luke Shaw sent in a high, outswinging corner. Harry Maguire headed it down - straight to Bukayo Saka. He took the ball on his left foot and hit a glorious volley. Go-o-oal!

Not content with that, England's 21-year-old forward scored another goal in the second half.

His performance helped cancel out memories of England's defeat by Italy in the Euro 2020 final. Saka was one of three England players to miss in the penalty shoot-out.    

He suffered racial abuse afterwards, but refused to let it get to him. "I will not let that moment or the negativity I have received this week break me," he said.¹

"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. He started at Arsenal's academy when he was only seven, but did not let it interfere with his schoolwork. He got 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 made his first-team debutFirst performance or appearance. for Arsenal at just 17. Two years later he was picked for England. But 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. "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.