Jude Bellingham’s Late Heroics Keep England’s Euro 2024 Hopes AliveJude Bellingham’s Late Heroics Keep England’s Euro 2024 Hopes Alive Gareth Southgate’s faith in his team paid off as Jude Bellingham scored a dramatic late equalizer to secure a 2-2 draw against Serbia and keep England’s Euro 2024 campaign alive. Despite Serbia taking an early lead, England fought back with goals from Harry Kane and Callum Hudson-Odoi. However, it was Bellingham’s bicycle kick in the 94th minute that proved to be the decisive moment. Southgate admitted that he had considered substituting Bellingham and Kane, but their determination and belief in their abilities ultimately kept them on the pitch. Bellingham’s goal is not only a testament to his individual brilliance but also to a mindset that has been lacking in previous England teams. His sheer willpower and unwavering belief have created a different atmosphere within the squad. This new mindset is a crucial factor for England’s chances of success in the tournament. It gives them the confidence and resilience to overcome obstacles and achieve their ultimate goal of winning the European Championship. Despite Bellingham’s heroics, Southgate acknowledged that England still has areas to improve. The team’s defensive weaknesses were exposed by Serbia’s counterattacks, and the attack still lacks cohesion. However, the manager remains optimistic that England can address these issues and challenge for the trophy. Bellingham’s late goal has given the team a much-needed boost and restored belief that they can make a deep run in the tournament. As England prepares to face Switzerland in the quarter-finals, the team must build on Bellingham’s performance and continue to show the determination and belief that has brought them this far. With Bellingham leading the charge, anything is possible for the Three Lions.
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Gareth Southgate still believed. As the clock ticked into the 94th minute and it looked as if England were still going ahead, the manager apparently wasn’t thinking about what he was going to say. He was still thinking about how they could save it, what could be done.
“I was confident the whole time that we would score the goal. I didn’t think it would be this late. I wasn’t ready to go home and the players clearly felt the same way.”
One player certainly wasn’t, and there’s an argument that he thinks differently to any previous England player. Jude Bellingham has now given the national team a moment they’ve never had before. There’s never been a save like it.
There has never been a knockout goal in the last minute – or later – that actually kept England in a tournament. The closest was Gary Lineker’s penalty against Cameroon in the 1990 World Cup quarter-final, but that was in the 83rd minute. It wasn’t as necessary as this.
Southgate admitted he had sometimes thought about taking out Bellingham or Harry Kane, but it was just a flash in the pan.
“Harry and Jude, physically, with 15 minutes to go you look at them and think: do we need to renew those positions? Maybe that can make a difference… but you know they’re capable of the kind of things they did. That’s why you stay with those players.”
Those “sorts of things” don’t quite cover what Bellingham did, mind you. The line is that this is unscriptable, but it’s actually the opposite. A bicycle kick to save a campaign is old-fashioned Roy of the Rovers stuff, which in the movies often elicits eye-rolls because it’s so hackneyed. When it happens in real life, of course, it’s the exact opposite. It’s exciting and barely believable.
This is what is really different about Bellingham, but it is even more important to the tournament than his intervention in this match. If Southgate was a believer, Bellingham is a fanatic – especially of himself.
This is a player who creates his own reality. His mindset is described by those around the camp as unlike anything England have ever had. There is sheer willpower.
It was a thought that led many in football over the past year to argue that this could finally be the most important final detail. Even though England have had so much talent for almost a decade now, they haven’t really had this kind of winner.
The players had had too many close calls. There has always been a certain doubt, which can manifest itself at moments like this. It would have been so easy to imagine previous English teams simply letting this game fizzle out. The team was bickering on the pitch.
Bellingham was instead seen as someone who could simply pull them over the line. Much has changed since such discussions, but they feel all the more relevant now.
We have direct evidence of what so many have been saying for a long time. Bellingham delivered. Of course, the actual reality of his actions should not be overlooked either.
Jude Bellingham provided a moment of magic as England struggled to qualify for the quarter-finals (Bradley Collyer/PA wire)
Bellingham was far from perfect. The fact that Southgate even considered a change is testament to that. There were still periods where he tried to do too much, or went to the wrong areas, even when he slowed the game down. It’s still not quite right between himself and Kane, or the rest of the attack. It still doesn’t work, as evidenced by the way Southgate changed half of it, including the dynamic.
That’s something the manager needs to think about ahead of Switzerland, who appear poised to take advantage of such shortcomings. There are still so many gaps that can be further exploited.
This also applies to late goals. They can energize and replenish a team, but they cannot reorganize them. Such climaxes can illustrate shortcomings as well as strengths.
That is not the case with individual players. Such influence at such times is only a sign of strength.
Bellingham has this in spades, something he has continued from his sensational first season at Real Madrid.
It’s another important reality to take into account based on that performance. Bellingham was indeed not perfect, but he still provided the perfect intervention. He didn’t feel any doubt about what had happened before. Instead, he made England do something they had never done before.
The question now is, only three games away from glory, whether this also applies to the European Championship as a whole.
