Jack Grealish and Phil Foden channelled their ‘inner Thiago and Rodri’ with a stunning rally of long-range passing in their England training camp.
The two Manchester City stars have travelled with the Three Lions for the World Cup in Qatar, with Gareth Southgate’s men kicking off their campaign in stunning fashion.
Foden and Grealish both came off the bench in England’s 6-2 demolition of Iran in their opening Group B fixture at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday.
Grealish, who scored England’s sixth against Iran, and Foden showed they were in high spirits with an impressive back-and-forth long-range passing exercise.
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The 27-year-old City and England winger sensationally ended the relay by catching Foden’s beautifully weighted cross between his thighs.
The footage, shared by England’s Twitter account, quickly caught the eye of fans and left them in awe at the Thiago and Rodri-esque display.
“The level of skill on display is absolutely ridiculous. The first touches are something else,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
Someone else tweeted: “Grealish turned into prime Ronaldinho for 2.1 seconds.”
“Levels ain’t there, [these] boys are at the top level. Good luck,” another fan said.
And a fourth Twitter user posted: “Most talented [England] players they’ve produced for ages.”
While another added: “If you don’t play football, you’ll never understand how hard this is to do.”
Thiago and Rodri previously dazzled fans when they effortlessly pinged the ball back and forth on the pitch in 2020 during a training session with the Spain national team.
Grealish and Foden will both be pushing for a place in Southgate’s England starting XI for the World Cup clash against the USA at the Al Bayt Stadium on Friday.
Southgate admitted he was happy with Grealish’s impact from the bench in the Iran match, saying the City star was “thinking of the team” even at the time he scored.
Speaking after England’s steamrolling of Iran, he said: “I’m a bit fed up with the end of it really.
“To win by that margin, to play as we did for the majority of the game, I’ve got to be really happy.
“But we shouldn’t be conceding two goals at that stage and we’ll have to be right on our game against the [United] States. It’s a great start but we’re going to have to be better.
“It’s a consequence of the scoreline a bit, we had 24 minutes of added time, which is a long time to focus but we just lost concentration and when we play at a slower tempo we’re not anywhere near as effective.
“We have some good players and today they really delivered. Our attacking players look a threat, our defence in the first hour controlled the game and were patient.
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“The midfield were excellent and our forwards looked a threat. It is a great maker to put down.
“What I particularly liked was Jack Grealish’s goal with Callum Wilson on. He could have been selfish but he was thinking of the team even at that moment.
“I’m a miserable so and so. I should be more excited but I have to keep the team on the right track.”
Topics: Jack Grealish, England, Phil Foden, Football
Adnan Riaz