For all the brilliance of Anthony Gordon at the Azteca Stadium, it was not one of his crosses or dribbles that went viral. Rather, it was a clip of Mexico's manager swearing at him from the touchline.

Javier Aguirre had just watched the England winger breeze past his full back when he bellowed, 'Gordon, f*** you!'. The player laughed, and even now mention of it brings a smile.

'With all the heat and tension around the game, it was a bit of fun,' says Gordon. 'I'd just run the full back down the line, so it was a compliment - that's how I took it anyway! He was a funny guy. He was talking to me and Jude all game. I liked it!'

Gordon signed for Barcelona on the eve of the World Cup and spoke fluent Spanish at his unveiling. Were any of Aguirre's insults in their shared tongue?

'No, that one was very English!'

The 3-2 win, and Gordon's part in it, marked one of his and England's greatest nights. He won the penalty for 3-1 and then moved into midfield with the team down to 10 men, where his craft made way for courage.

It was a far cry from the Gordon we saw in the opening two matches, when he was anonymous against Croatia and underwhelming versus Ghana. He does not dispute this verdict. In fact, he embraces it. Dropped for the final group game, he then came from the bench against DR Congo in the last 32 and supplied both assists for Harry Kane's match-winning double.

His impact in Atlanta reminded me of a conversation we had in the Far East last summer, when Gordon revealed that he sometimes needs things to go wrong before they can go right.

'I stick to what I said back then,' he says. 'The reason I'll always do well is because my mentality to disappointment is very good. The first two games didn't go how I dreamt of starting in a World Cup, at all! The first game, I just didn't touch the ball that much. The second, I just thought I didn't play great.

'I missed a lot of football towards the end of the season. I felt rusty. I felt like I played safe. I wasn't playing to my strengths. So when I got the chance against Congo, I said to myself, 'I'm not doing that, I'm going to do the things that got me here'. It paid off. Yeah, I felt like a man possessed when I came on.'

Gordon had played like that during his six minutes of action at Euro 2024, too, but was never seen again after one group-stage cameo.

'I felt like it was a waste of a summer,' he says. 'I didn't enjoy it at the time, but I can use that for experience now. When we got the squad numbers for this tournament, I'm not going to lie, I wanted number 11! But when I got number 18, which I had at the Euros, I thought, 'Actually, this gives me the opportunity to put that right, to make something special from it'.'

Mexico was special, but Thomas Tuchel has made it clear to his players this week that the Azteca has gone. Now, it's about Norway in Miami on Saturday.

'I don't want to speak about that game (Mexico) again,' says Gordon. 'It was an amazing memory, some great moments made, but in reality that's not what we came here for, just to win that game. I don't want it to feel like that was the final. It was an emotional high but we need to get rid of it now. Getting criticised can drain you, but getting praised can drain you too.'

Thankfully, for England, 'Gordon, f*** you!' proved less of a curse and more of a blessing.

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