Bukayo Saka previews World Cup quarter-final game against France – watch live
Saka speaks to the media as England hold a news conference and ahead of their quarter-final World Cup game against France. Subscribe to Guardian Football ► http://is.gd/GuardianFootball The Guardian publishes independent journalism, made possible by supporters. Contribute to The Guardian today ► https://bit.ly/3uhA7zg Sign up to the Guardian's free new daily newsletter, First Edition ► http://theguardian.com/first-edition Website ► https://www.theguardian.com Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/theguardian Twitter ► https://twitter.com/guardian Instagram ► https://instagram.com/guardian The Guardian on YouTube: The Guardian ► https://bit.ly/guardiannewssubs Guardian News ► https://bit.ly/guardiannewssubs Guardian Australia ► https://bit.ly/guardianaussubs Guardian Sport ► https://bit.ly/gdnsportsubs Guardian Live ► https://bit.ly/guardianlivesubs Saka BukayoSaka England France WorldCup Quarters
Transcript
this is okay okay well fixed oh it's not tick tick tick tick foreign objective I suppose news uh because just coming foreign good afternoon everybody and welcome to this media conference with the chaoseka uh as ever we can use the microphone provided and make sure it's switched on and state your name and the organization you work for um there's plenty here today so we'll try and get around as many as possible so if you can keep your questions to one or two it'll be great and we'll start with Rob Dorsey from Skye hi okay how are you okay I'm good thanks how are you yeah I'm good thanks mate um you've never played in a World Cup game before this tournament uh you've now started three games at four um scored last night scored three goals in three games it's not bad is it what do you make of it all no um it's been a great experience so far you know obviously to achieve that and help my team with the goals I've scored is really nice feeling so I'm happy and I just hope I can continue to help my team England blew Senegal away in the end last night um you know the leading scorers in this world cup um you're part of that attacking unit do you think there is any better attacking unit out there in any other Nation at the moment that's still here um that's a good question um but there's actually there's no doubt you know the the quality we have in our team you know we're blessed with an amazing front line with so much quality um attacking players and yeah when you get selected in that in that lineup it it shows how much confidence and Trust the coach puts in you so it gives you that extra confidence to go out there and shine and last night you were able to do that it's a huge quarterfinal coming up against the world champions um do you think England need to change the way that you play maybe change the formation or would you like to see England go Toe to Toe with France um well I'm not a manager you know I'm a player um yeah I have to trust Gareth and our our coaching staff to obviously prepare the best game plan but I think you know we can continue to do it we're doing you know we've been playing well and we've scored like you said the most goals in the tournament so I don't see us needing to change um change too much good man thank you thank you sorry hi yeah um gareth's record now in tournament football is um pretty exemplary given that the form coming in to the World Cup was a bit uh Rocky let's say what is it about the group and Gareth that makes England really click when it matters um I think of course you know this team in general has a lot of players that have played in big tournaments you know so there's a lot of tournament experience you know if you look at the last few few results you know in the the tournaments we've been we've been in we've got to I think a semi-final or final and maybe a quarter final so you know there's a lot of experience in there so you know when the big games come we have a lot of players that know what they need to do um all the talk now of course is about uh mbappe um and how you stop him but of course there's much more to France than than just him um what is it about England specifically and the qualities that you have that can cause them perhaps just as many problems as they're going to cause you um I think first of all if you look at our first four games I think we have free clean sheets so it starts you know how solid we've been at the back and that's credit to to Defenders and obviously Pickers are keeper you know they've been exceptional there and of course at the same time we've scored the most goals as well so I feel like we just need to just prepare the best game plan and go there with confidence because we're we're playing good right now obviously knockout football brings with the threat of penalties we all know what happened to you personally after the European final how do you feel now about the potential to take a penalty and can you just reflect for us a little bit about how you've perhaps changed since that moment um well yeah I've obviously mature than progressed a lot as a player and a person since that moment and you know I wouldn't have stepped up the times I've stepped up for Austin to take a penalty if I wasn't confident so obviously if the moment comes you know and I'm selected to take it I'll be more than happy to and just finally from me um we obviously know raheem's gone home and the awful thing that's happened to him and his family um have you guys have any contact with him since he got back to England and what would your your message to him be um he wished us the best you know yesterday as he was as he was going back and yeah I've messaged him and hopefully he'll get back to me later I just hope he's he's okay him and his family um tournaments like the World Cup make stars and in Russia it was Killian Buffet bursting onto the scene you are already a star but considering how well you've been playing do you think you'll be the Killian Buffet of this World Cup [Laughter] first of all thank you um for the compliment but um no I think I think there's only one killing a buffet and at the same time there's only one me you know I just want to be myself and help my team in the best way I can you know there's a lot of young players in this tournament I can name so many and even in our team you know there's another um young player alongside us doing unbelievable unbelievably well in Jude Bellingham as well so I'm just happy that we're we're all here we're all doing well and the priorities to try and win the tournament rather than be the um player of the toneman or a young player they told me like he said um Hiram from Norway Anarchy well in this world cup the pictures are being cooled down by air condition is this something you notice when walu plague um to be fair the stadiums are felt quite cool so yeah definitely I've noticed that it hasn't been too hot so yeah how does that affect your play um well of course you know it's it's a bit easier to play when it's cooler than than when it's too hot so obviously it would help us as players and and the last for me uh you mentioned the Bellingham what you're seeing him every day now on the picture can you say some words about him and what he's doing on the pitch special player um I don't really know the words to describe him you know I just hope he can continue to keep progressing because for sure he has a massive massive future oh yeah Rob Harris from Sky News congratulations on reaching the quarterfinals obviously a lot of fans back home in the cold watching England probably getting pretty excited now gradually the tournament is progressing what would your message be to fans back home who are getting excited and what this team can achieve well yeah I've seen a lot of the videos back home you know and the fans celebrating them you know we all love to see that um we just want to obviously thank them for the support you know and just awesome to keep supporting us keep pushing us to the end and believing in the team obviously it's the world champions next but given what you've achieved as a group is it you who should be fair do you think rather than thinking of them as being world champions who are pretty tough um obviously we know the quality they have the quality players they have and we also know our own qualities as well so we just gotta go into the game of confidence and you know do our best to win in the in the game all right because Mark Van Bryant's pa um you spoke to us already during the tournament and said the love and support you had after last summer really helped but on a personal level just coming out here scoring three goals is that almost for you put an end to that it's the perfect start to push that out of people's minds isn't it what happened last year um to be honest I feel like personally you know I've tried to to move on for that moment um obviously I know I can never really forget about it it's going to be in history you know but at the same time you know coming out here and scoring those three goals of course lifted me a lot um of course like I say when I keep saying the love from the fans that I keep receiving lifts me a lot as well it gives me a lot of confidence and yeah I just love to to see this from the fans and obviously Marcus has done exactly the same to me Mrs penalty he's started really well out here YouTube have you almost supported each other do you think through the whole ordeal no it's not just us to you we've all supported each other you know the whole team has got around me so I think that's another example of how how close our team is and how together we are which is helping us to get good results as well it's in the background there yeah thanks hello um a question for French TV can I please um England and France are two the most impressive team in this tournament but they don't used to face each other on the big competition what could you tell us about the Rivalry between France and uh and England in sports and in football thank you um well the Rivalry in this world cup obviously is Big because like you said it's been two two Nations that have performed exceptionally well in their first four games um we've watched their games and stuff like that we followed them and we've seen the quality that they have and I'm sure they've done the same with us so definitely it's going to be an exciting game and you know everyone's looking forward to it hello I'm Pierre from newspaper liquip I have two questions first uh did you get the text from William Saliba or will you in the next few days according to you and the second one is uh can you just explain us the leadership of hurricane obviously he leads you on the pitch by the example but I was wondering is he the kind of leader who can make a speech before the game in the dressing room for example um first of all no I haven't received any text from William Saliba um I'm not sure I will ever um but yeah let's see um yeah hurricane is a leader in both of the ways you described you know on the pitch release by example in his in his um in his game and then of course he does the same in the change room you know he's one of the most vocal in a change room and before every game of course he does the speech like he said and gets us all going so yeah Gary Cox from haters here um hi pakaya um your teammate Gabriel Jesus looks like he's out for a while now um have you been in touch and how big a blow is that for him and obviously for Arsenal going forward yeah he's a he's a very very very very important player for us and yeah it's not not good to hear the news um obviously I've messaged him and I think he's gonna go and see see the doctor and see you know what he needs to do for the next steps but yeah definitely it's not not good news when I heard that and yeah David long snake yeah hi okay David Ornstein from the athletic um I saw when you were walking back from your celebration that you pointed over to the crowd and you had a little wave of blue a kiss or something um was that to your family and uh are they your inspiration or do you have other Inspirations that drive you in your career um yeah it was to my family um you know they follow me everywhere and they have done since you know I started my foot building Journey so just to go from that to obviously scoring a goal at the World Cup um you know those type of moments you know just stay with me forever so yeah it's it's really nice to obviously see them in the crowd and see their smile get up and clap for me so yeah I always try and look out for them and the likes of you Jude Bellingham Phil foden are being talked about around the world as sort of generational talents do you guys sort of accept that and see yourselves as the best young players in the world um I don't know obviously how they feel about that you know we don't really talk about um what people say on the outside you know because there's much good stuff you know like you just said um the compliments you said there's also some bad things as well so we try not to obviously read everything but yeah I know that definitely all three of us have the confidence um in ourselves you know that we have quality to to go into the game and decide games and affect the game and help our team so yeah I think we can we need to just continue like this and try and continue to help England and just finally for me you've obviously got a huge game ahead but there are a lot of people us included talking about England as being contenders for this title actually your teammates have talked about that being the target so does it sit comfortably with you as a squad to be potential winners of this tournament yeah of course you know we we have to believe that you know we have to come into this tournament and believe that we can win it um right now our focus is on the next game which is France you know it's gonna be a really difficult game but you know we have to try and get through that and then focus on the next one and you know it will get closer and closer and hopefully we give ourselves the best chance to win it uh James Ollie from ESPN um you've had a great season domestically obviously Arsenal flying high at the top of the league how much has that helped you here coming into this tournament with that confidence from from what you've done already this season yeah it's been a amazing season so far of Arsenal um like you said we're top of the league right now and not just me everyone in that team is playing with you know so much confidence so obviously coming here you know we can bring that here and yeah it's really helped me of course um we want to ask you about Olivier Giroud I think he left before you made your senior debut but obviously you were around the squad at the time did you did you ever spend any time with him did he ever give you any advice no I never actually got to to train with him I think he'd left already before I had come up to um Coney so no but obviously I heard things about him you know that he was a quality player really really good at finishing and stuff like that so yeah it's one player you have played with of course is William silly but is his development impressed or surprised even you because he's come straight into back into the Premier League obviously being online in France and just been tremendous yeah I can't talk highly enough of um of Willy's unbelievable yeah he's got an amazing future so yeah I'm looking forward to seeing to see how much he keeps developing and I wish him all the best you know he's such a good guy as well just a final one for me I've read an interviewer you said that you read the Bible every night and I just wondered if if you were doing that out here and if you had a particular passage that was sort of inspiring you or helping you at the moment um yeah I've been continuing to do that out here read my Bible every night for me it's really important to obviously have the presence of God in Me all the time and it gives me gives me more confidence you know that God's plan is perfect so I can go on a pitch and you know know that God has my back but um the the main thing for me is just keeping my faith you know just having faith in God so I don't need to be nervous or worry about any outcomes because obviously it's my first World Cup you know I can I can start worrying about different things and different outcomes but instead I just choose to put my faith in God do you have a favorite Passage no I like I like all of them it was Alex Howell from here hi Buckeye Hello Alex Howell BBC uh Declan rice said that countries should start fearing you now and that you should start getting the credit you deserved you think that's right I think he has a good point yeah of course you know we've we've performed quite well you know in our first four games and yeah I feel like we just need to to stay hungry and stay focused on the next game which obviously is the most important and there's been a lot of big decisions uh the managers had to make and he's got everyone right so far up until this point just as players how much do you do back the manager yeah we all back the manager of course because you know he's he has an unbelievable record in in these big tournaments and he's taken us really far um and yeah you know he does make big decisions and he's got them all right so I think we need to obviously just try and trust in him more try and believe in him more stop doubting him um and yeah we should we should be in a good place and just trust him hi Jeremy Armstrong from The Daily Mirror just a very quick one about rahima our viewers players got together to talk about security because obviously it's got implications for all of you really I just wanted to be spoken to people back home if you've sort of spoken about increasing your own security as a result of what happened to Raheem really um no it's not really something we've or I've managed to discuss you know because obviously yesterday when it happened I was I was very focused on the game um but yeah I just hope raheem's okay his family is okay and yeah he gets what what he does what he needs to do he's just passing that to the back row there for French radio uh another question about Killian um easy for you the best player of the world when right now and um are you worried about playing him now thank you um yeah for me he's one of the best players in the world um he's up there with with the best players um and of course you know we know the quality he has and as a team we have to just try and prepare to to try and stop him but not only him you know France have a lot of other quality players as well so we need to be aware of that that's one of this section well uh from Spain um in Russia England Discord lots of goals from set pieces obviously you you weren't there but have you talked uh with the guys about changes in the way you approach games or the manager approaches the games and and you work during training for this thank you um yeah we're always practicing and thinking of new ideas um the coaching staff and also the players as well to try and try and obviously score goals this way because you know a lot of goals and a lot of games big games are decided on set pieces so we try and be ready to score in the opposition box and obviously defend our own box when it's against us okay well then the live section there and we'll move on to a very short section of bargain until 10 30 P.M