England manager Gareth Southgate has praised Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson for a selfless act during the Three Lions’ 6-2 World Cup win over Iran.
In the 89th minute of play, the 30-year-old found himself heading towards goal on the right hand-side of the pitch.
Dribbling in towards the goalkeeper, the Magpies number nine pulled the ball back to Jack Grealish, who slotted home with an easy finish.
Speaking in his post-match interview with the BBC, Southgate rejected the chance to praise Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham scoring. Instead, he chose to hail praise on Wilson’s sacrificial pass.
“It’s great,” he said.
“What I particularly liked with Jack Grealish’s goal at the end, Callum Wilson is on and could have been selfish, but he was thinking of the team at that moment.”
Southgate full of praise for Wilson
With England’s fifth and final substitution of the game, Wilson came on for captain Harry Kane with 14 minutes of regular time to go.
At that moment, the Three Lions were 5-1 up. Without the need to score, it was fantastic to see the Newcastle forward get minutes on the pitch, as Southgate could have easily parked the bus with extra defenders.
Instead, England continued to attack, with the Toon striker getting in on the action.
As an out-and-out number nine, it may have surprised certain fans to see Wilson so selflessly square the ball for Grealish.
However, as Magpies supporters know, the 30-year-old is always about the good of the team, and this was a perfect example of his selfless behaviour.
With his electric form in a black and white shirt this season, Wilson would have been sure to back himself to score.
This didn’t matter to him in the moment, however, as he looked to enhance his team’s victory with the best option: playing the ball back, rather than going for goal.
This really impressed Southgate, who will now be rest assured that Wilson is a brilliant option to bring off the bench when Kane needs a rest.