Bukayo Saka closed his eyes as he stepped onto the pitch for England’s World Cup opener against Iran on Monday. He was probably praying that he continues his fine Arsenal club form for his country in the world’s biggest football competition. For England’s multi-million pound players, failure is a tough path to tread. 

Redemption indeed

Saka knows what it’s like to fail for England. He missed a penalty in the 2020 Euro final against Italy, where England almost brought the cup home. Consequently, he was racially abused online. Since then however, the speedy and skilful forward has excelled for country and club. He has had five goals this season and six assists as Arsenal (37 points) currently lead the Premiership by five points over the mighty Manchester City with 14 games on the board.  The last Arsenal player to score a goal for England in a World Cup match was defender Sol Campbell way back in 2002.