Troy Deeney has hailed the performances of the entire England team in their World Cup victory over Mexico, but singled out Anthony Gordon as a 'beast' at the Azteca. The Three Lions advanced to the quarter-finals after a dramatic 3-2 win in Mexico City on Sunday.
Match details
Jude Bellingham scored twice to give England a 2-0 lead in the first half, but Julian Quiñones pulled one back before the break. Early in the second half, England's right-back Jarell Quansah received a red card. Gordon was then fouled in the box, allowing Harry Kane to restore the two-goal lead from the penalty spot. However, Kane conceded a penalty himself, which Raul Jimenez converted in the 60th minute, setting up a nervy finish that England survived.
Deeney's praise for Gordon
Despite Bellingham and Kane being the goal-scoring heroes, Deeney highlighted Gordon's relentless work on the left flank. 'Jude Bellingham will get a lot of credit because he was fantastic,' the former Watford and Birmingham striker told CBS. 'One person who had a fantastic game. The stats won't agree with it, the untrained eye won't agree with it, but if you've played the game you will agree with this 100 per cent. Anthony Gordon was a beast today. Defensively he was helping out every time tracking back. Took us up the pitch when we needed to.'
Deeney acknowledged Gordon could have been better in moments but insisted, 'He was a beast.' He added that the whole team performed at roughly 7.5 out of 10, with Bellingham and Kane rising to nine.
Gordon's reaction
Gordon described the victory as 'an all-time England great win,' especially given the context of playing with 10 men for much of the match. 'I think it would have been anyway, but with the context around the game: the penalty, which I didn't think was from what I've seen, the red card, which again, I didn't think was, but we dug in,' he told ITV. 'It was really, really difficult, really hard with the altitude and one man less, but we did it.'
He credited the team's hard training for their resilience: 'I know when adversity comes, we're going to be ready because of how hard we push each other. If you train harder than the game is going to be, the game becomes much easier.' On Bellingham, Gordon said, 'He's a global superstar for a reason. He's 23 years of age, what he's achieved so far is just incredible. And more importantly, forget the football, one of a kind human being. Just so humble, never talks about himself, always putting the lads first.'
Next match
England will face Norway in the quarter-finals on Saturday in Miami, after Erling Haaland scored twice in a 2-0 win over Brazil.
