GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany — Jude Bellingham admitted he had “taken it personally” when criticized during Euro 2024, and that he’d used the frustration to spark his dramatic overhead kick against Slovakia — and the instantly famous “who else?” celebration that followed.
Bellingham defiantly screamed “who else?” towards the stands and media section after his equalizing goal saved England from elimination, and later gave a fascinating insight into what has driven him to become arguably the best player in the world.
Rather than shut out the noise, like so many players and even his own England head coach Gareth Southgate do, Bellingham lets it in, and utilizes it as competitive fuel.
“Playing for England should be one of the most proud things of a footballer’s career,” Bellingham told reporters. “At times, it is quite difficult. There is really high, intense pressure. The fans expect a lot from us regardless of what happened in recent tournaments, years and years ago, so people talk a lot, and you do have to take it personally a little bit.
“We work so hard at this game, we come in every day and train so hard to put on performances for the fans, but sometimes it doesn’t go well, and sometimes it feels like there’s a bit of a ‘pile on’, which is not nice to hear.
“But you can always use it — and for moments like that it is nice to kind of throw it back to some people, I suppose.
“I think the adrenaline gets you, but it is a combination of a lot of things. Playing for England is an enjoyable feeling, but it is also a lot of pressure, and you hear people talk a lot of rubbish. And it is nice that when you deliver you can give them a little bit back.
“It is very difficult in press conferences and interviews to talk as openly as footballers want to because they are always judged. For me, football and being on the pitch, celebrating and scoring goals, yeah, it was maybe a message to a few people.”
England has come under fire for its performances at Euro 2024, with a trio of underwhelming displays on the way to topping Group C. Sunday’s showing was not much better, and Southgate’s men were just seconds from looming defeat when Bellingham flung himself into the air as an instant front-runner for goal of the tournament. A minute into extra time, captain Harry Kane headed home the winner.
Following the final group game against Slovenia last week, fans booed Southgate and plastic beer cups were hurled in his direction as he saluted supporters. Criticism from television pundits has been loud and sustained, while several newspapers questioned whether Bellingham and Phil Foden could function in the same starting XI.
Regardless of his majestic club campaign for Real Madrid, in which he was named La Liga player of the season and emerged as a leading Ballon d’Or candidate, the Guardian was among the publications that suggested Bellingham should be the one dropped to the bench. Former England forward Wayne Rooney questioned Bellingham’s body language in the London Times. The Daily Mail also indicated England’s system might work better if the 21-year-old was demoted.
Fortunately for England, that didn’t happen, neither did Southgate give in to his thought that an exhausted-looking Bellingham should be subbed out in the closing minutes against Slovakia.
“It is a feeling that is like no other,” Bellingham said. “In international football, in knockout football, it is even a worse feeling because you are 30 seconds from going home and having to listen to all the rubbish.
“Feeling like you’ve let a nation of people down. In 30 seconds or (with) one kick of the ball, everything can change. It is a feeling that I don’t like to be in but when it is done it feels great.
“(Scoring late goals) is a habit I picked up from Madrid. Obviously, my game has improved a lot since I’ve joined and (I’m) really grateful I could bring it to this game.
“In knockout football, when you can produce a moment like that and everyone looks around at each other and says ‘wow, that’s the spirit we actually have got in that team,’ it can help a lot.
“But you don’t experience things like that if you don’t have the adversity of the two draws, if you don’t have the adversity of going 1-0 down.”
England’s side of the bracket is the place to be. The winner of its clash with Switzerland in Dusseldorf on Saturday (noon ET on FOX) will take on either Romania, the Netherlands, Austria or Turkey in the semifinal.
The opposite half, meanwhile, includes a whopping quarterfinal between Spain and Germany (Friday, noon ET on FOX), plus France and Portugal in another potential quarterfinal if they can beat Belgium and Slovenia, respectively, on Monday.
Having come so close to winning the Euro three years ago, only to be denied on penalty kicks against Italy, England knows the scale of its opportunity, but will need to play much better to make the most of it.
Bellingham had the feeling late on Sunday night that he might have just scored the most important goal of his career, but that will only truly be determined by what comes next.
“I think it is hard to deny that it was one of the most important moments of my career so far,” he added. “But we will see, it is a long tournament and it is really only very important if we go on to win the cup. So we will decide how important it is.”
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