Newcastle defender Dan Burn has quickly assumed 'cult hero' status within the England squad after back-to-back impressive cameos helped seal their World Cup semi-final berth19:00, 14 Jul 2026Dan Burn has revealed he texted Leo Ostigard after leaving the Norway defender in a heap in Miami.‌Burn overpowered his former Brighton team-mate in a late aerial duel before stepping over the 26-year-old and revving up the fans. Once the adrenaline subsided, the humble Newcastle centre-back started to feel bad.‌He explained: "I was in a bit of my own world, to be honest. I’ve seen the video back and I used to play with Leo, the guy who I end up clattering with the header.‌"I didn't really know what I'd done in the moment. I watched back and I thought, ‘Oh, it's not great,’ so I texted Leo after and just said, ‘Mate, I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I was just like fired up,’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, I get that, it’s no problem.’"When that ball's in the air, my like my eyes lit up a little bit and I just wanted to go for it and do my part for the team."Newcastle's Toon Army love to chant about opponents "never, ever" being able to "beat Dan Burn" to the sound of Ultrabeat hit Pretty Green Eyes. He does not have an England song just yet but he has gone viral and is rapidly approaching 500k Instagram followers.‌Burn replied when quizzed on whether he's aware of his online cult hero status: "No, not really. I'm not massive on [using] social media, so I don't see loads of it, but I've had lots of people sending us different videos."For me, it's just trying to help the lads out as much as possible, and trying to make an impact on the pitch."‌World Cup 2026 news in your inbox with our Make Football Great Again newsletterAnd he will hope to have another massive impact against Argentina, the opponents when he can first remember falling in love with football.The towering 34-year-old defender was perched at a Florida bar watching national icon David Beckham blast home the all-important winner from the penalty spot in Sapporo 28 years ago.‌Now, in what stretches far beyond a full circle moment, Beckham is simply in awe of Burn's heroic contributions at this World Cup - just like the rest of the country.The latter said when reflecting on England's 2002 scalp over their semi-final opponents: "I was 10. I know exactly where I was, I was in a bar called the Cricketers Arms in Orlando because we were on holiday, and it must have been on quite late because I think it was just me and my dad.‌"So my dad used to take us to the pub and I remember when the penalty went in, just like the roar from inside. I think that was the sort of time when I fell in love with football."I've said it before, like him scoring that free-kick against Greece was the first time I was like, ‘football's class’."I rarely get star struck now, I feel like when I meet people, I'm normally pretty cool but this time, I was like, ‘f*** me, that’s David Beckham!'"Article continues belowJoin our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.Content cannot be displayed without consent