England midfielder Jack Grealish came off the bench to score his team's sixth goal in a comfortable 6-2 victory over Iran in their opening FIFA World Cup 2022 match and chose to celebrate with a special move, fulfilling a promise made to a young fan of his club Manchester City.
Finlay is an 11-year-old supporter of the Cityzens who suffers from cerebral palsy. Grealish received a letter from the young superfan, who also got the ultimate surprise when the England international paid a special visit to him earlier in November. The Premier League's official social media handles shared a video of the same.
See the video here:
Grealish told the youngster: “I’ll do a little celebration for you. What would you like me to do?” To which, Finley responded by saying, “Do the worm!” The midfielder explained that doing the worm might injure him so instead he promised to wave with his hands instead, and that is exactly what he did when Grealish managed to find the back of the net to give England their sixth goal.
It completed an exceptional performance for Gareth Southgate's team. Young midfielder Jude Bellingham opened the scoring with a header before goals from Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling had England in control in the first half. Saka then doubled his tally before Iran pulled one back through Mehdi Taremi. Saka's replacement Marcus Rashford made an instant impact off the bench to restore England's four-goal lead before Grealish made it six.
Taremi then reduced the deficit once again after Iran were awarded a controversial penalty but it didn't dampen spirits as England started their campaign with a convincing win.
England now turns their attention to Friday's game against the USA.