Sunderland should take 'great pride' in what Liverpool and Everton duo Jordan Henderson and Jordan Pickford are achieving with England - Kevin Ball

In the 31st minute at the Al Bayt Stadium, Senegalise striker Boulaye Dia had a clear sight of goal inside The Three Lions’ penalty area and took aim.

Dia’s shot was saved by the strong arm of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who reacted quickly by springing to his left. England had been let off the hook and needed to up their game.

Moments later the reaction came. A sweeping move saw Gareth Southgate’s side cut through the opposition’s press before Jordan Henderson finished with aplomb to open the scoring.

Two big moments from two players made in Sunderland.

Former Black Cats captain Kevin Ball worked with both Henderson and Pickford while coaching the club’s youth team in their teenage years. Even then, he predicted the pair would achieve big things.

“He’ll always strive to be the best”

Henderson’s inclusion in England’s starting XI against Wales and Senegal may have surprised some supporters who wanted to see more recognised attacking players in the starting line-up.

Yet, as pointed out numerous times by television commentators at the stadium, Liverpool’s captain could be heard above anyone else.

“I think his leadership skills and overall understanding of how to get people working as a unit is a skill in itself,” Ball tells the Echo.

“I wasn’t surprised he was recalled and I think both games really reflected the true sort of person he is.

“Also credit should be given to Gareth Southgate because he’s made a really good decision there.”

It’s also worth remembering just what Henderson, 32, has achieved in his career. A Premier League and Champions League-winning captain with Liverpool, who has also represented England at six successive major tournaments.

Incredible achievements, yet there was always a feeling he would reach the very top.

"He would have been 15, 16," recalls Ball when asked at what age he started working with Henderson on Wearside.

“If I go back to when I saw him as a player then, the attributes you see now on the pitch, his goal, his run, I’ve seen that so many times in the youth team and reserves.

“It’s easy with the benefit of hindsight to go ‘oh yeah I thought that’, but I told one of the members of staff when he was 16 that he’d play for England.

"You can just tell within a player if they have the ability, which Jordan has in abundance, but within that ability and underneath it all you need a drive, and that comes from the individual, and you need the support network around him.

“When Liverpool lost the Champions League final, myself and my wife were watching the game. They lost the final and I said to my missus; ‘he’ll win that next year.’

"I should have put a couple of quid on some of the things I said he’d achieve, I’d be a millionaire by now!

“That’s because when you’ve worked with Jordan you know the character that is ingrained in him and that he’ll always strive to be the best.”

Pickford has that match-winning save in him

As for Pickford, this is his third major tournament with England, while the Everton keeper has only conceded four goals in 11 matches during last year’s European Championships and this World Cup combined.

"I think the manager has that faith in him,” says Ball when discussing Pickford’s international career. "As you go into major tournaments, saves at certain times become crucial.

“If you look at Jordan’s save the other day, for all I expected us to win the game, if Senegal score then it changes the complexity of the game, the flow of the game. The save in itself was outstanding, such a strong hand to stop it.

“Sometimes you have to have a match-winning save in you."

We’re also at the stage of the competition where those match-winning saves may be needed in a penalty shootout.

It’s a scenario Pickford has excelled in before with England, after saving Carlos Bacca’s spot kick against Colombia in 2018, and keeping out two penalties against Italy in last year’s Euros final.

"I think the way they look into things nowadays it gives goalkeepers probably a better chance,” says Ball. “All the footage they’ve got and stuff like that.

"You still need within your goalkeeper to have an edge that he can see something before it happens.

“Jordan in the past has shown us he’s got that. If it does go to penalties then you hope he shows us it again.”

The North East should take great pride

So as Southgate’s side head into a blockbuster quarter-final against France, England will hope for more of those match-winning moments.

For Ball, there remains a strong sense of pride watching two players he has seen come through the ranks to play on the biggest stage.

“When you look at players you’ve coached, whatever they achieve in whatever walk of life, it is the same for me,” he adds. “Because they have been part of our life like we have been part of theirs.

“The differences for some players is it may not be on the same stage that the two Jordans have done, there may be players out there that have gone down different avenues, but you would always still be a fan of them for whatever they go on to achieve.

“When you get two players like the two Jordans who have gone on to achieve stuff on the world stage where they become more out there and exposed, then you do have that pride because people are then seeing what you’ve helped along the way.

“All of us will take great pride in it as I like to think the whole of the North East will as well.”