England head coach, Gareth Southgate has hailed Bukayo Saka for his breathtaking performance in the Three Lions’ 7-o victory over North Macedonia.
The 21-year-old plundered a hat-trick in the 2024 Euros qualifying rounds. The encounter also saw skipper Harry Kane score a brace with Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips getting into the score sheet.
Southgate disclosed to the press after the game that Saka scored three goals despite having a little Achilles issue.
“I am delighted for him. He’s had a slightly sore Achilles – for a few weeks – and it’s another one where it would have been easy to pull out of the camp. And miss out on a night like this that I’m sure will live with him forever.
Gareth Southgate on Saka’s achilles injury: “He’s had it for a few weeks, it’s an injury that needs managing, but it would’ve been easy not to appear [in the camp]. When you then have probably one of the best nights of your life, it’s worth going through those things.” #afc pic.twitter.com/ZzktarnFjg
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) June 20, 2023
“When you have one of the best nights of your life it’s a reminder to everyone to go through these things.”
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When asked if Saka can become an ‘elite’ player, Southgate replied: “I think he is already there. He broke into a team [Arsenal] having a difficult time and performing at a high level. Then when the team was playing well he’s still performing. That says everything. He’s exceptional to work with.
“For [all of] the players to have the mentality they have to work, at the late stage of this monster of all seasons. There was every excuse to do that and they’ve not done that.”
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