IT was in a Florida pub watching David Beckham’s redemption penalty against Argentina in 2002 when a 10-year-old Dan Burn fell in love with football.
The current England cult hero was taken to the boozer by his old man David and witnessed Three Lions icon Becks smash home his spot-kick at the 2002 World Cup.
England star Dan Burn says England vs Argentina in 2002 helped him fall in love with football Credit: Alamy
Newcastle star’s first World Cup memory was David Beckham’s penalty against the Argentines Credit: AP:Associated Press
It came four years on from a wound-up Beckham kicking out at Diego Simeone and being sent off as we lost to Argentina on heartbreaking penalties.
Now Burn has a chance to reach a World Cup final if he, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Co can see off Lionel Messi’s South Americans in Atlanta.
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It is a powderkeg semi-final steeped in history and charged with emotion which Burn knows as well as any of Thomas Tuchel’s squad.
The Newcastle star, 34, said: “My first World Cup I remember was the 2002 World Cup where Becks scored the penalty, and you could see the emotion coming out of him, obviously being sent off in the ‘98 World Cup.
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“I know exactly where I was, I was in a bar called the Cricketers’ Arms in Orlando because we were on holiday, and it must have been on quite late because I think it was just me and my dad.
“My dad used to take us to the pub, so I must have been like 10. I remember when the penalty went in, just like the roar from inside.
“That was the sort of time when I fell in love with football. I’ve said it before, like him scoring that free-kick against Greece was the first time I was like, ‘football’s class’.”
That lightbulb moment and the way Burn describes is something all football fans can identify with, in how they first fell for the game.
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Burn will be part of the England squad taking on Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals Credit: Getty
It is, in a nutshell, why the affable Geordie is probably the most relatable player in Tuchel’s trophy-hunting squad.
Burn met Beckham in Miami ahead of the quarter-final in Miami – and even his reaction to that experience is one that feels more like that of a regular supporter than an England player.
The ex-Brighton centre-back confessed: “I was bit starstruck, to be honest, I rarely get starstruck now.
“I feel like when I meet people, I’m normally pretty cool. But I was like, ‘f*** me, that’s David Beckham!’”
Now Burn will face an even bigger football icon in Messi if Tuchel throws him into action, like he has for the previous two knockout games.
Burn has experience of playing in the Champions League ahead of England’s big night Credit: Alamy
When Messi was making his World Cup debut in 2006, Burn was 14 and playing locally up in the North East, having been released by Newcastle three years earlier.
It was around that time he switched from being a goalkeeper to a defender and after a period pushing trolleys for Asda, his professional career kicked off with Darlington.
That sparked a rise up the leagues, playing for the likes of Yeovil and Wigan before life transformed when he rejoined Newcastle from Brighton in 2021.
In the last few years, the late bloomer has scored in a League Cup final – helping win the Toon’s first major trophy in 70 years – and played in the Champions League.
But nothing would compare to going all the way at the World Cup.
Asked for the biggest contrast in his professional to the prestige of a World Cup semi-final against the great Messi, Burn replied: “It would have been starting out with Darlington.
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“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.
“You might play on the Tuesday night, the first team, and then you’d be going home, I’d have to wash my kit, get up in the middle of night, put on the radiators and then drive back to Darlington the next day.
“So it’s good, but it also 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.
“I knew what it was like to not be at a Premier League club when I was at Fulham. And those little bits just sort of push it on.
“I can’t say I ever dreamt of being in a World Cup semi-final, because it was so far off the radar that it was.
“But it’s just something that’s probably managed to happen in the last couple years where you feel like that’s possible.”
Burn had to wait until the last-16 win against Mexico to get his first taste of World Cup action, helping ten-man England see out an unforgettable 3-2 win in the Azteca Stadium.
He was called into action as a “closer” in quarter-final 2-1 victory over Norway, putting in plenty of towering headers using his imposing 6ft7ins frame.
Of course, Burn would love to be involved against Argentina and then the final if England get there.
But he also accepts that, if everything goes to plan over the next week for the Three Lions, then he will not be needed at all.
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.
“You’re excited to play against the reigning champions. But there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ve got the ability to beat Argentina.
“I really feel like the lads will show their best selves on Wednesday. Everyone will be sort of ready to go.”
