Dan Burn has admitted that his personal 'best case scenario' at the World Cup would be to play no minutes at all, as that would mean England are winning the tournament. The Newcastle United defender, a surprise inclusion in Thomas Tuchel's squad, has made substitute appearances in the last two knockout matches against Mexico and Norway, helping to protect narrow leads.
Burn's role as a 'special operations' player
The 6ft 7in centre-back, 34, is at his first major tournament and has been described as a 'special operations' player, brought on for specific game situations. Burn revealed that Tuchel explained he was unlikely to start but wanted him in the squad anyway. 'I knew the role that I was coming in to play and just wanted to sort of do that to the best of my ability,' Burn said.
Burn added: 'Really, you kind of don't want to have to come on at all [because that means] we'll win the World Cup. It's a hard one, mentally, because the 'best case scenario' for the team is that I'm not needed at all, but that also means that I don't get on the pitch.'
From non-league to World Cup semi-final
Burn's journey to the World Cup semi-final against Argentina is remarkable. After starting in Blyth Spartans' youth system, he made his first-team debut at Darlington and is one of the few England squad members to come through the non-league route. When asked about the point in his career furthest from a World Cup semi-final, he said: 'It would have been starting out with Darlington. When I was a kid, you had to wash your own kit and take packed lunches in and then you were ball boys for the first team at the weekend.'
He continued: 'You might play on the Tuesday night, the first team, and then you'd be going home, I'd have to wash me kick get up the middle of night, put on the radiators and then drive back to Darlington the next day. It made me want it a little bit more. It might not have had that effect with other people, but I just felt like mentally I had the edge over people, and I was prepared to go to further lengths.'
Preparing for Argentina
Burn could be needed again when England face Argentina in the semi-finals on Wednesday. He has been warming up for much of the second half in recent games, knowing he might be called upon. 'If the game is tight at the end [like against Norway], I'm warming up pretty much the entire second half, knowing that I was going to have to come on and do something. I just want to come on and do what I'm good at,' he said.
Despite the surreal nature of his journey, Burn remains grounded. 'I can't say I ever dreamt of being in a World Cup semi-final, because it was so far off the radar,' he concluded.
