Serbia’s Strahinja Pavlovic eliminated England’s Bukayo Saka just 22 minutes of their opening Euro 2024 group game on Sunday, evoking a sense of familiarity.

Saka scored England’s winning goal with a deflected cross for Jude Bellingham after racing away from Pavlovic. He was also causing trouble for Serbia’s left-sided defender, often turning him inside out.

Anyone who has seen Arsenal knows Saka is regularly the subject of physical treatment from struggling defenders, especially after he has passed them at least once, and Pavlovic may have shown some discipline by waiting so long to foul his tormentor.

Watching Saka run in Serbia, it was easy to forget that he came into the European Championship underprepared, having struggled to train properly in the warm-up camp after completing the domestic season with a groin ailment.

TORRID TIME: Bukayo Saka TORMENTED SERBIAN DEFENDER STRAHINJA PAVLOVIC DURING ENGLAND’S 1-0 WIN ON SUNDAY.

There were also lingering concerns that the 22-year-old was feeling the strain of a rigorous season in which he appeared 52 times for club and country and was rarely given a break by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

Saka, on the other hand, appeared reinvigorated in the first half in Gelsenkirchen before weakening and was removed for the final 15 minutes as England held on for a 1-0 victory.

A fresh and fired-up Saka is good news for England, and despite Gareth Southgate’s attacking depth, the manager needs him to perform well in Germany this summer.

Harry Kane may be England’s striker and statesman, and Bellingham is becoming their leader and figurehead, but Ealing-born Saka has quietly been crowned England’s player of the year for the past two years.

The award is determined by members of the England fans’ club, who have a solid idea of who consistently performs well for their nation.

A day before England’s second group game against Denmark in Frankfurt, no other member of Southgate’s assault feels as certain in their role as Saka, including Bellingham and Kane, whose best places are being debated.

There is no mention of Saka in the discussions about how to maximize the performance of the team, including Phil Foden and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Foden and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer — the Premier League Player and Young Player of the Season, respectively — prefer to play on the right, but there is no doubt that either could fill Saka’s role on the wing. West Ham winger Jarrod Bowen, who replaced him against Serbia, is expected to be his understudy in Germany.

Saka is often regarded as England’s finest option down the right side, and his steady output and directness are valuable assets for Southgate, especially in a group missing Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford.

Few forwards can isolate a defender like Saka, and as Pavlovic can attest, his ability to run both ways makes him a menace.

Saka’s cross for Bellingham was his 27th goal in 24 games for England, demonstrating his extraordinary consistency at the international level.

In contrast, Foden has struggled to repeat his Manchester City form in an England shirt, while Palmer, Bowen, Anthony Gordon, and Eberechi Eze are all untested at this level.

Kane and Saka are the only members of Southgate’s squad with more than four international goals and a track record of being influential in the final stages of competitions.

Saka scored England’s equaliser against tomorrow’s opponents in the Euro 2020 semi-finals, as well as the World Cup last-16 win over Senegal 18 months ago.

He was largely regarded as England’s greatest player in their eventual defeat to France in the quarter-final, gaining their first penalty and giving Theo Hernandez, the French left-back, the Pavlović treatment.

Saka did, however, face the misery of missing from the spot in England’s penalty-shootout loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final, leaving him with unfinished business in the campaign.

Euro 2020 was Saka’s breakthrough tournament for England, but how it ended may have had an impact on lesser personalities. Instead, he has established himself as Arsenal’s penalty taker and England’s most consistent player, putting his Wembley miss behind him.

Saka’s goal now is to help England recover from their defeat to Italy, and if they make it all the way this summer, he looks certain to play a key role.