England added another disappointment. Time was running out and there was no way back for Slovakia, who won the game with a goal from Ivan Schranz. The English, in the stands of the Veltins-Arena of GelsenkirchenIn desperation, they began to whistle at the players and ask them to kick at the goal with each possession of the ball that ended in nothing. Others chose to leave early. Until they heard a loud bang and, with glasses of beer in hand, they ran back.
Hey Jude. Jude was there to achieve it, as the lyrics of one of The Beatles’ emblematic songs say. Standing in the area, in a center forward position, Jude Bellingham He hit a bicycle kick to hit the ball that came from the side (from Walker) and a comb-over (from Guéhi) to rescue England from the red tape and media carnage that was going to come to Gareth Southgate’s team. With the pirouette that he drew in the air, the Real Madrid star, with whom he has just won the Champions League, gave life to his team in the Euro Cup. In injury time and one minute from the end of the duel with Slovakia for the round of 16.
A while later, at the start of the first extra time, Harry Kane consummated the victory with a header to make the final score 2-1 and weigh down the hierarchy. But beyond the fact that that goal from the Bayern Munich scorer gave them the victory, England was saved by Bellingham, the footballer who tried everywhere during the 90 minutes, even when the game was not flowing and desperation entered the body of the players. footballers in white t-shirts.
Criticism of Southgate multiplied because the coach did not touch anything. And his team, although it qualified first and did not lose in the group stage, came with irregular performances. A sin. Especially if you take into account that of the 11 starters, 9 play in the Premier League, and the other two, Bellingham and Kane, in two European giants: Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Even so, the changes still worked for Southgate. Especially the first three. Because Cole Palmer, Ivan Toney and Eberechi Eze contributed their part and participated in the play for the second goal. Palmer executed the set piece, Eze put the ball into the area and Toney assisted Kane with a header.
With the second goal, England breathed. Still, he suffered to be able to celebrate. The thing is that the traffic in extra time was not clear. Slovakia made it difficult with crosses and came close to equalizing. But Southgate’s team resisted.
Although all the flashes are taken to Bellingham. Because if there was an extension it was because of Jude and his miraculous overhead kick. Having just turned 21 (he celebrated it on Saturday), the Real Madrid midfielder is the young English wonder, who in a short time had a dizzying rise.
Born on June 29, 2003 in Stourbridge, Bellingham’s career grew by leaps and bounds. At the age of 8 he started in Birmingham’s youth categories and at just 16 he joined the preseason of the first team, which was competing in the Championship (second category). His debut in Primera came in 2019, when he was just 16 years and 38 days old. And a month later he scored his first goal.
He played just one season for Birmingham, until his transfer to Borussia Dortmund was made official in July 2020 in exchange for $25 million. And a year ago he arrived at Real Madrid, in exchange for more than 100 million euros. In his national team, he debuted in 2020. He was in the last Euro Cup and the World Cup in Qatar. This Sunday, he avoided an elimination that would have been scandalous. And at the end, the fans sang Hey Jude, the legendary Beatles song in honor of Bellingham: “Naranana,Hey Jude!“.