By Victor Kanayo
England started the ongoing 2022 World Cup like a house on fire following a near-excellent performance that triggered a 6-2 thrashing of Iran inside Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
They are now topping group B with three point, hoping to finish strong and move on.
It was an encounter that Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka scored a brace in the 43rd and 62nd minutes in his first ever FIFA World Cup tournament.
From beginning, Gareth Southgate’s youthful side took the lead through a header from Jude Bellingham before Saka and Raheem Sterling scored later in the first half in a dominant display.
Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford, joined by Saka doubled the score line in the second half to secure all three points for their side.
In the 10 minute extra time given, Iran secured a penalty that helped them get a second goal in the net against the Three Lions.
England had a rather shaky start to the tournament as FIFA had banned their captain Harry Kane from wearing the ‘OneLove’ armband threatening to slam the forward with a yellow card if he went on to the pitch with it.
They opted to back down from pushing for the armband to be worn just hours before their match with Iran kicked-off.
England came into the match on the back of a six-game winless run but the manner in which they dismantled Iran will have certainly lifted spirits and belief amongst supporters as to what this team could go on to achieve in Qatar.
There were plenty of positives in terms of the football and individual player performances, but it is the pre-match politics that remains high on the agenda in the aftermath.
Iran’s players notably did not sing their own national anthem and their fans booed it, while England backed down on the ‘One Love’ armband Harry Kane was set to wear after FIFA had threatened the player would receive an automatic booking for sporting it.
Later on same Monday November 21, 2022, The Netherlands picked all three points lately after they beat Senegal 2-0.
Although Senegal played beautifully and guarded their post till the 86th minute, they couldn’t hold Netherlands to a stalemate to grab a point from the match that had no Sadio Mane who had pulled of the tournament due to injury.
