DOHA, Qatar (AP) — When Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford last walked off the field at a major international soccer tournament, they were bombarded with racist abuse.
Three goals for England in the team’s opening match at this year’s World Cup was their immediate riposte.
Saka scored two before giving way to Rashford, who added another in the second half of England’s 6-2 rout of Iran on Monday.
The jubilant scene at the Khalifa International Stadium was in contrast to the tears shed following England’s penalty shootout loss to Italy in last year’s European Championship final. Saka and Rashford both failed to convert from the spot and were targeted on social media.
“It is a moment that has been with me and will be with me forever,” said Saka, who was only 19 during Euro 2020. “But I am so blessed and so grateful to have the coaching staff, not only here with the team at England, but also at Arsenal.
“My friends and my family put their arm around me along with my teammates and the nation supported me to help me get back to a good place. I feel that love from everyone around me.”
The win also provides encouragement for coach Gareth Southgate, who has faced the most troubled period of his England tenure over the last year. In a difficult buildup to the tournament in Qatar, he was booed after a 4-0 loss to Hungary in June and was humiliated by his own fans when they chanted, “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
Hundreds of fans missed the start of Monday’s match because of an issue with digital tickets. When they eventually made their way to their seats, they witnessed an utterly dominant display from England.
Jude Bellingham’s first international goal opened the scoring in the 35th minute.
Saka then got his first of the match in the 43rd and Raheem Sterling added another in first-half stoppage time. Saka scored his second shortly after the hour, but Mehdi Taremi pulled one back for Iran in the 65th minute.
Rashford struck six minutes later to extend England’s lead to 5-1, and Jack Grealish also stepped off the bench to score a sixth in the 90th. Taremi added another for Iran from the penalty spot deep in stoppage time after John Stones was penalized for holding Morteza Pouraliganji’s shirt in the box.
Netherlands 2, Senegal 0
Louis van Gaal’s gambles at both ends of the field paid off for the Netherlands.
Up front, Memphis Depay returned from injury as a second-half substitute to help spark the attack into life as the Netherlands scored two late goals to beat Senegal 2-0 Monday at the World Cup.
At the back, Netherlands goalkeeper Andries Noppert pulled off three key saves to keep the African champions at bay after Van Gaal decided to give him his international debut in a key World Cup game and just two months after he was called into the national squad for the first time.
“His quality is he can stop balls and he did that three times today,” the Netherlands coach said, “and he did it perfectly.”
Cody Gakpo and substitute Davy Klaasen provided the late goals to ensure the Dutch team’s winning start at its first World Cup appearance since 2014, when Van Gaal was also coach.
Gakpo rose to glance a header in from a cross by Frenkie de Jong in the 84th minute with the team’s first effort on target. Klaasen added a second right at the end of eight minutes of stoppage time by slotting in after Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy only weakly blocked a shot from Depay.
The orange-shirted Dutch fans had been subdued until the late strikes as Senegal was the more energetic team. The Senegalese drums and chants were the dominant sound from the stands for much of the game.
But Senegal’s main problem was predictable: Without injured forward Sadio Mane, it couldn’t convert any of its chances.
“I think we gave everything and I think we deserved at least a point from this game,” Senegal coach Aliou Cisse said. “But, of course, Sadio being missing is a problem for us.”
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Depay, who has only just recovered from a hamstring injury, was put on by Van Gaal with about 30 minutes to go after the veteran coach said the day before that he wasn’t sure if the Barcelona forward was ready for action.
He decided to see if he was and Depay responded by playing parts in both goals.
First, he linked up with De Jong near the edge of the area before the midfielder crossed to Gakpo for the first goal. Depay’s run and shot deep in injury time led to the second goal for Klaasen — one of four substitutes in the match. It sealed a Dutch victory and a 16th game unbeaten for the Netherlands since the 71-year-old Van Gaal, the oldest coach at the World Cup, returned from retirement last year to lead his country for a third time.
The substitutions provided “the breakthrough,” Van Gaal said. “Memphis was a big part of that.”