England manager, Gareth Southgate, has revealed that he opted to start Bukayo Saka ahead of Jadon Sancho in his side’s Euro 2020 semi-final tie against Denmark on Wednesday night because the Arsenal winger offers ‘balance’.
Saka was a surprise inclusion in Southgate’s squad prior to the Euro 2020, but he won the man of the match award in the final group game against Czech Republic.
The 19-year-old also featured in England’s victory against Germany in the round of 16.
England vs Denmark: Southgate told to start Saka in Euro 2020 semi-final
But he sustained an injury in training ahead of England’s 4-0 win over Ukraine in the quarter-final last weekend.,
Explaining his decision to start Saka ahead of Sancho, Southgate told ITV: “What he’s done in the previous matches, he’s really embraced that challenge. We were very pleased with Jadon at the weekend.
“Everybody knows we’ve got fantastic options in those areas, but we felt for the balance of tonight that Bukayo is the right choice.”
Meanwhile, at the time of filing this report, England are playing a 1-1 draw with Denmark at half-time, thanks to goals from Simon Kjaer (OG) and Mikkel Damsgaard.
