FourFourTwo December 2021 43on penalties. Five months later at the World
Cup, he wasn’t to be denied. Foden was
a popular member of the squad too,
including during a training camp before the
tournament, as England travelled to India
early to prepare.
“Him and George McEachran from Chelsea
shared a room and those two together were
hilarious – it was like Dumb and Dumber,”
smiles Anderson. “Their room was directly
across the corridor from mine, and Phil is
one of those people who will literally always
have a football with him. If no one was
playing football with him, he’d be in the
corridor in his socks, kicking the
ball against the wall. Every time I opened
my door, he was there. He was just a very
positive, happy kid.
“He was 100 per cent a leader for that
team, but not a leader who would talk –
it was more with his ability and his desire,
which drove people on its own. He’d say
what needed to be said when he spoke to
Rhian or the midfielders, but he wasn’t loud.
He wouldn’t be one trying to get the whole
team going. He didn’t need to, because if he
got the ball, he didn’t need the whole team
to help him out – he could do it on his own.”
Foden was deployed on the right wing
during that World Cup, initially working in
tandem with TJ Eyoma, then of Spurs.
“I was playing right-back – I’d literally just
give him the ball and he’d take care of the
rest,” chuckles the 21-year-old defender.
“He was so graceful with his dribbling.”
Foden scored from the edge of the box in
the 3-2 group victory over Mexico, but much
of the media focus was on Sancho, and
whether Borussia Dortmund would allow the
winger to stay with the squad for the whole
tournament. Sancho returned to the Ruhr
valley before the knockout phase, and made
his Bundesliga debut days later.
The fact that England didn’t miss their
departing prodigy was instructive of Foden’s
huge influence. After netting a penalty in the
shootout victory over Japan in the last 16,
the Manchester City youngster was involved
in two goals as the Young Lions beat the USA,
then two more as Brazil were defeated in the
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