Bellingham’s magic saves England as he says goal is ‘message’ to critics

Imagine if Gareth Southgate had carried out his plan to eliminate Jude Bellingham.

Imagine if Bellingham had been completely left out of England’s starting line-up against Slovakia as Southgate faced calls to do so.

What Bellingham produced – in a mesmerizing moment of magic – is what Real Madrid fans cherish all season.

And that’s why Southgate trusted his judgment rather than the clamor for change – even resting Bellingham.

Just a day after his 21st birthday, the back-kick was Bellingham’s personal gift to the nation – saving the euros campaign.

After watching the game from the substitutes’ bench, Conor Gallagher said: “I’m buzzing like every England fan. An incredible goal, an incredible moment.”

Few moments in English history have been as dramatic as a Equalizer in the 95th minute to keep the team in the tournament.

And thanks to Harry KaneA header from ‘s within a minute of extra time puts them into the quarter-finals.

But without Bellingham’s talent they would have had to pack their bags – and he felt the weight of responsibility when the ball came to him in the penalty area.

“You’re 30 seconds away from going home, you have to listen to all this nonsense, you feel like you’ve let a nation down,” Bellingham said.

“And in 30 seconds or one swing of the ball, everything can change. And it’s a feeling I never want to have – I don’t like being in it – but when it does, I feel good.

“So it’s a habit I’ve picked up in Madrid. Obviously my game has improved a lot since I arrived, and I’m really grateful to have been able to bring that to this game.”

Bellingham also scored in the opening match – sealing the 1-0 victory against Serbia, also in Gelsenkirchen – while Kane scored England’s only goal in the 1-1 draw against Denmark.

With England held to a 0-0 draw by Slovenia in their final group match, their only goals came from Bellingham and Kane.

That means that no player from a Premier League club has, unusually, found the net for England; Kane is now with Bayern Munich and Bellingham with the newly crowned Spanish and European champions.

“We hear a lot of nonsense from people”

Playing abroad did nothing to quell the sense of anticipation of ending the Three Lions’ wait for a first trophy since 1966 – nor the clamour of the critics.

“Playing for England is a great feeling but it’s also a lot of pressure,” Bellingham said.

“You hear a lot of nonsense from people and it’s nice when you keep your word. You can give them a little bit in return.”

This explains why he appeared to shout “Who else?” during his goal celebration.

“Scoring goals, celebrating, it’s my liberation,” he said. “Maybe it was a message to a few people.”

Bellingham will hope adrenaline can propel England to another final, having been just a teenager and making brief appearances at Euro 2020.

The pain of the penalty shootout in the final defeat to Italy still lingers for England, followed by elimination from the 2022 World Cup at the hands of France in the quarter-final.

The performances so far in Germany hardly suggest that England can match their status as favourites for the trophy ahead of the Euros.

“The fans expect a lot from us, no matter what happened in the last tournaments,” Bellingham said.

“So people talk a lot and I think you have to take that a little bit personally.

“We work very hard for this game. We come and train every day very hard to try to perform for the fans.

“And sometimes it doesn’t go well and sometimes it feels like there’s a little bit of a pile on it and, yeah, it’s not nice to hear, but you can still use it.

“And for times like that, it’s nice to throw it back to some people, I guess.”

As England prepare to face Switzerland, the hope is that the determination that inspired the comeback against Slovakia can be transformative for a team trying to emulate the women’s team by becoming European champions.

“You won’t experience things like this if you don’t have the adversity of the two ties, if you don’t have the adversity of losing to zero,” Bellingham said. “It’s great because it shows a reaction.”