Anthony Gordon cashes in on his England sliding doors moment
England careers have hinged on sliding-doors moments. Fortune, on the international stage, does not even itself out over a season. It strikes, for better or worse, and its legacy can be life-defining. Think Jimmy Greaves and Geoff Hurst.
Less than two weeks ago, there were fears that Anthony Gordon’s season could be over. Injuring his knee at Chelsea on a Monday night - Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said ‘it did not look good’ - he woke the next morning and, to his surprise, felt fine.
Come Wednesday morning, same again - no swelling, no damage. The FA were informed and, come Thursday, he was in the England senior squad for the first time. Here, he started against Brazil.
If that non-injury was lucky then so, too, were the injuries to Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer this week. That is not a particularly kind way of looking at it, but when doors open you have to run on through. The challenge for Gordon was to make sure he closed it behind him.
The last player to make his full England debut versus Brazil was Nicky Shorey in 2007. The Reading left back went on to win just one more cap. Gordon, on this evidence, will collect many more, and his collection should start to grow this summer.
He was fast, purposeful, never wasteful and twice went close to scoring before half-time. At this stage, a goal as good as buys you an air ticket to Germany, and he was again denied early in the second half. By now, three of England’s five shots belonged to the 23-year-old.
But it was his link-up with Jude Bellingham that would have caught Gareth Southgate’s eye. Together, they were England’s most incisive pairing down the left-hand side. Only he and Phil Foden were on the same wavelength as the Real Madrid star, who was again his team’s best player.
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