England s unlikely lad Burn setting sights on World Cup

LONDON – Newcastle United’s Dan Burn knows his career has not been a “straight line”, but at the age of 32 everything is suddenly falling into place for the defender who on March 21 could earn a belated first England cap.

Last week, he took a call from new Three Lions manager Thomas Tuchel who informed him that he was part of the squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley on March 21 and 24.

Then on March 16, the 1.98m-tall Burn’s majestic header, his first goal of the season, paved the way for Newcastle’s first domestic trophy for 70 years, a 2-1 League Cup final win over Liverpool.

So on March 18, he was the man everyone wanted to talk to at England’s St George’s Park headquarters.

“I’ve had worse weeks,” Burn said of how he received the call-up.

“When it got to 6 o’clock Thursday night and I’d not heard anything, I said to my wife: ‘I don’t think anything’s going to happen’, then I got a text saying: ‘Are you still awake?’”

“(Tuchel) said that he just had been ringing everyone who hadn’t made the squad, so again I didn’t think I was making it. But then he said he just needed to end the day on a good note, and that he wanted me in the squad.”

As a boyhood Newcastle fan born just a few miles from the city, he could have been forgiven for wanting to make the most of the party that followed the Magpies’ long-awaited success.

But the centre-back knew he was due to report for England duty on March 17. So he wisely opted against joining the alcohol-fuelled partying to keep him fresh.

“It was strange. As soon as I left the stadium on Sunday my