England’s lionheart
He’s Stuart Pearce and Bryan Robson rolled into one, would walk into any team in Europe and rose above the abuse he faced after missing a penalty last time. Bukayo Saka is...
BUKAYO SAKA retreated to his favourite spot in the burning sauna at England’s base in Weimar to reflect on the events of the night before.
Burning is the operative word here. Burning with excitement. Burning with passion. Burning with pride.
England’s new lionheart. Think Bryan Robson. Think Stuart Pearce. Saka appears in a different guise but is no less iconic. The embodiment of the sort of culture English football has traditionally dined on. Courage, bravery, tenacity.
But Saka offers so much more than heart. He is a supremely gifted technician who would walk into pretty much any team in Europe — talent underpinned by an unrelenting desire to move forward, regardless of the hurdles.
England’s modern-day hero. Robson and Pearce are among the most revered England players in recent history. But Saka is different. He possesses Pearce’s drive, Robson’s determination, all knitted together with a technical proficiency that, with all due respect, the aforementioned duo didn’t reach.
After Saturday night, Saka’s legacy is secure — and at 22 he will add further chapters to his England narrative.
Yet, the story of redemption that unfolded at the Merkur Spiel-Arena would hardly have registered with this easygoing lad from Ealing, west London.
The narrative was inescapable, of course. As he strode up to take England’s third penalty, your mind couldn’t help but turn to the final of Euro 2020.
The heartache of that night — Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho missing in the shootout and Italy leaving Wembley as European champions — will never completely disappear.
The aftermath is well-documented and rather sickening. Racist abuse on social media followed as the ugly side of the game reared its head when one of its most prodigious talents was on his knees.
‘Saka has had the sort of adversity that very few people would come back from,’ said former Chelsea defender Paul Elliott, now an equalities advisor to the FA and UEFA.
‘That’s a measure of the man. Of course he has wonderful talent. But it’s his mental application and how he uses his talent to supersede everything else. The belief, the confidence. He has an innate belief that takes over — it drives him on.
‘It’s like the penalty at Euro 2020 was just a passing moment. I’m convinced nothing in the past came into his mindset (against Switzerland). There was no psychological hangover. He showed courage in adversity.’
INDEED, you couldn’t help but marvel at the way Saka settled the score on Saturday night by not only delivering a man-of-the-match display, which included a brilliant 80th-minute equaliser, but then dispatching a penalty to help England into the Euro 2024 semi-finals.
Not that you would have known the gravity of what he had just accomplished from the way Saka celebrated. There was no outpouring of emotion akin to the way Pearce famously exorcised his penalty demons from Italia ’90 by scoring in the shootout win over Spain at Euro ’96.
Arms outstretched, Saka simply looked ahead and cupped his ears as if to ask, ‘Got anything more to say?’ Then, of course, came that unmistakable smile.
‘I try to focus more on success than failure,’ Saka said yesterday. ‘If I think about failing or missing, it gets me down and gets me worried and then I get tense. I was pretty relaxed when I was walking to the penalty.
‘I have taken many penalties this season and scored all of them. I was confident, I have been good in training and to put it away was a nice feeling.’
The significance of his penalty may one day register with Saka but he isn’t the sort to get caught in such symbolism.
Recovery. Execution. The future. That is Saka’s focus.
That’s not to say his journey to redemption hasn’t been tumultuous, but Saka’s most impressive trait is, perhaps, his ability to maintain an equilibrium. Never too high, never too low.
There was pain after Euro 2020, but not to the degree the aftermath might have made you believe. Returning to the bosom of Arsenal’s training centre in London Colney helped Saka refocus the mind.
Much like Sir Alex Ferguson did when David Beckham returned to England amid an outpouring of hate after the 1998 World Cup, Mikel Arteta took on the role as Saka’s protector-in-chief.
Former Arsenal captain Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, who gave Saka his nickname ‘Little Chilli’, is also said to have been influential in ensuring Saka’s return to training after his penalty miss was carefully managed.
Gareth Southgate, too, maintained contact with the player who had unexpectedly taken the tournament by storm. Indeed, the England manager has formed a special bond with Saka. Of course, Saka’s benefits to his team are obvious. But Southgate’s adoration for the Arsenal winger runs far deeper than football.
Southgate admires Saka’s humility, his respectful nature, his chirpiness and intelligence.
The groundswell of support from the football community also came as a comfort to Saka. Arsenal were inundated with letters from fans, young and old, those with different allegiances, wishing to offer their support to Saka.
There was even a banner of support from Tottenham’s fans during a north London derby pre-season friendly that read: ‘North London stands with Saka and all players against racism and discrimination.’
FURTHER afield, Pep Guardiola was taking notice of Saka’s performances and instructed City’s recruitment personnel to keep a watching brief on the kid who had captured the hearts of a nation.
There can be no bigger endorsement for a footballer than hearing Guardiola wants you — which would have gone some way to reaffirming to Saka that his stock was still on the rise, despite the agonising nature of what preceded that summer.
Naturally, there were those intent on accentuating Saka’s suffering. ‘You let your country down,’ Saka would hear from opposing fans on a regular basis. But Saka, who is deeply religious, always had faith. The storm passed and now here we are.
His long-standing ambition of playing Champions League football has been fulfilled, and the way Arsenal are developing under Arteta, winning the competition will become a target in the nottoo-distant future.
Domestically, Saka will have designs on ending Guardiola’s domination of the Premier League next season after Arsenal pushed Manchester City so close in the previous two campaigns.
But there is only one trophy on Saka’s mind at the moment. And as the sweat ran down his brow in the sauna that he has taken such a shine to in Weimar, he would have been reflecting on England’s shot at glory, not his own personal redemption.
But that’s Bukayo — England’s lionheart.