Anthony Gordon tips Newcastle team-mates Nick Pope and Jacob Murphy for England | OneFootball

Anthony Gordon has backed Newcastle team-mates Nick Pope and Jacob Murphy to follow him into the England squad.

The 24-year-old, who starred in his club’s 3-0 Champions League victory over Benfica on Tuesday, is dreaming of a trip to the World Cup finals next summer after working his way into Thomas Tuchel’s team and scoring in a 5-0 qualifier win in Latvia earlier this month.

In the run-up to the Benfica game, goalkeeper Pope spoke of his hopes of returning to the England fold, and his display against the Primeira Liga side, which included a remarkable assist – a 65-yard throw – for the first of Harvey Barnes’ two goals, will not have gone unnoticed.

Asked about his team-mate, Gordon said: “He’s in the form of his life. That throw was outstanding – how he can throw that far is madness.

“The first half is where he really, really shows his quality. He made two great saves to keep the scores level.

“We’re great friends, so I hope he’s on the plane with me. It’d be lovely to be there with him and he’s a top, top guy, so he deserves everything he gets.”

Pope’s delivery to Barnes, which came 19 minutes from time with the Magpies leading just 1-0, has been likened to that of an NFL quarterback.

NFL fan Gordon said: “It was Tom Brady… I’ve never seen anything like that live. I didn’t know he had it in his locker. I thought, ‘Where’s that going?’, then Barnesy gets on to it.”

If Pope helped to wrap up a vital win, it was Murphy who played the supporting role for the 32nd-minute opener, receiving Bruno Guimaraes’ pass before surging forward and producing a pin-point cross for Gordon to fire home.

Much has been made in the wake of Alexander Isak’s early struggle for form at Liverpool of the service he was provided by Murphy during his time at St James’ Park.

Gordon said: “He’s so underestimated as a player, honestly. He can do absolutely everything any winger can do in the Premier League. I don’t know why he’s so underestimated.

“I love playing with him. I just know he’s going to play that ball every time, so I can gamble and put my head down and run because I know it’s going there so I can just tap it in.”

Asked about Murphy’s England chances, Gordon added: “He’s got everything you need to be at that level. He just needs a run of form, goals, assists for the manager to take notice of him.

“I’m sure he would have been in talks last year because he was one of the best, in-form wingers in the league, so he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing and the manager will take notice.”