Dan Burn makes heroic World Cup debut in iconic battle between England and Mexico
England took on Mexico in the dizzying heights of the Azteca Stadium in the wee hours of Monday morning.
Those of you who stayed up even after the kick-off was pushed back to 2am were handsomely rewarded for your commitment. Others, like me, who saw the delay and went to bed in a strop, are likely fuming that they missed out on one of the games of the tournament.
Of course, as was always going to happen when I chose sleep over the game, Newcastle's one remaining World Cup participant made an appearance.
Not only that, but Dan Burn, who came off the bench on 74 minutes for the Three Lions, played a huge part in ensuring England made it to the quarter-finals of the competition.
England roared into a two-goal lead
A quick-fire double from Jude Bellingham put England on their way to victory.
A two-minute double-salvo on 36 and 38 minutes had England looking comfortable in the hostile atmosphere in Mexico City.
However, Julián Quiñones had one back for the hosts after just four minutes, setting up an intense second half.
England made life difficult for themselves
Jarrel Quansah was sent off on 54 minutes for a reckless challenge, just to increase the difficulty level a bit more for England.
Anthony Gordon was felled in the area by the outrushing goalkeeper on the hour mark, and the referee pointed to the spot where Harry Kane stepped up and fired home. Just nine minutes later, though, the referee was sent to the monitors to check on a possible penalty for Mexico as Kane tried to clear the ball out of the area and connected with the foot of the Mexican attacker.
As expected, when a ref is sent to the monitors, he pointed to the spot and Raul Jimenez made no mistake from 12 yards.
Enter Dan Burn
A man down and with just a one-goal cushion, Thomas Tuchel sent on Big Dan Burn on 74 minutes and what an inspired substitution that turned out to be.
The Blyth-born giant made six clearances to protect England's lead, which, according to Opta, is the most clearances by a player subbed on that late into a World Cup game on record since 1966.
England are through to the last eight, where they will face Norway after they saw off Brazil earlier in the evening. Bruno Guimares' exit means that Dan Burn is Newcastle's last representative at the tournament now. Bring it home, Big Dan!
