It’s a bleak old world. Football is no longer an escape from the moral maze or the culture wars, instead a mirror of them. It marches hand in hand with the ramifications of geopolitics, authoritarianism and human rights. And an interview with Piers Morgan briefly led the news agenda into the World Cup, which is only slightly less appetising.
So you take your comfort where you can, and mine happens to be pictures of Bukayo Saka’s face when he is full of joy. There is something disbelieving about Saka’s smile in these magic, post-goal moments, as if he has just woken up having been placed in the glorious final scene of his own dream sequence.
After he became the youngest England player to score more than once in an England World Cup game, the majority reaction seemed to be that Saka had earned his redemption. I take the point: his last kick in a major tournament was a missed penalty and it meant England fell one step short. Then Saka was not smiling; now he lights up the stadium.
It was certainly a significant personal milestone; on that we can all agree. After the game, Saka admitted that the Italy penalty will remain with him forever, but that it has merely made him more determined to use history to write his own future. One with him dancing around defenders and with England teammates jumping on his back and hugging the air out of him, presumably.
But this was not a redemption because Saka did not need redeeming. He missed a penalty for England – it happens. He also had the courage to step up at 19 years old, in the biggest match of his career, and accept the great burden of responsibility. His reward for that bravery was to receive unforgivable, vile racist abuse on social media from anonymous cowards who were threatened by his excellence and enveloped by hatred.
Redemption suggests that Saka has changed the minds of those morons – he probably hasn’t. That behaviour is ingrained and it is often permanent. Redemption suggests that he owed them something, as if he was in anyone’s debt. Redemption suggests that we can now accept the idea of Saka as an England starter because he has righted a wrong. None of that is accurate.
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Stuart Pearce waited six years for his personal salvation and reacted as if those grievances were still raw. What Saka endured must have affected him – how could it not? He has proven to himself that his excellence will always win out.
You suspect that Saka could have done all this on his own. He is remarkably mature for 21, both as a person and as a footballer. You must remind yourself that there is only one player younger in this England squad because 10 have fewer caps. There is a cheeriness – and even a mischief – to his person that belies the endeavour required not just to reach the top level as a teenager, but stay there. England internationals can quickly drift from centre stage – on his debut in October 2020, Saka was replaced by Ainsley Maitland-Niles – but he has wrestled to keep his place.
But Saka did not need to tread alone. That is important to detail because it may not always have been the case. There now exists concrete support networks for players that in the past may have only been drawn into sand. Saka has spoken extensively about the love and support he had from across the game.
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“I’ve had a couple of long chats with him early in the season,” said Gareth Southgate. “He’s had great support as well from Mikel [Arteta] and everybody at Arsenal, I think he’s felt that from us as well. He was England player of the year last year, so I think the most important thing he felt was the warmth from the fans. I was at Brentford the opening day of last season, where it was really heart-warming to see the response he got. That would have helped him to put things into perspective.”
Now the only perspective Saka needs is a stare into his future, both short and long-term. He has the world at his feet, is loved by his public and has the power to carry a team forward.
Mistakes make the man, we are told, and maybe they made Saka too. There are few more impressive figures in this squad.
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