SAVED BY THE BELL
England 1 Serbia 0: Brilliant Jude Bellingham gets Three Lions off to perfect start at Euro 2024
Scroll down for all the stats from the Three Lions' Euro 2024 opener
WE used to compare Jude Bellingham to other English footballers.
To Wayne Rooney in 2004, to Paul Gascoigne in 1990.
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But now we’re beyond all that. Bellingham is beyond comparison with any other player who has worn the Three Lions in the last half-century.
If you’re old enough to have seen Bobby Charlton or Stanley Matthews then have a chat among yourselves.
But watching Bellingham is more like witnessing Muhammad Ali or Tiger Woods in their pomp.
A man who is so much better than anyone else he is competing with - and with the self-awareness to know it.
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If Bellingham didn’t have such swaggering arrogance, he wouldn’t be the game-changer he is.
His thumping early header set up an opening-night victory over Serbia just as his thumping early header had set up a thrashing of Iran in the first match of England’s World Cup campaign in Qatar.
It was a classic centre-forward’s goal. But then Bellingham can be a centre-forward, he can be a No10, he can play on the left, he can play deep. This fella has more guises than Mr Benn.
Still a fortnight shy of his 21st birthday, Bellingham is the on-field leader of Gareth Southgate’s England team.
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He’s their best passer, their best ball-winner, their best creator and since moving to Real Madrid, he’s challenging Harry Kane for the mantle of England’s best finisher too.
There has been debate about moving Bellingham from a No10 role to accommodate Phil Foden, the Footballer of the Year and Premier League perma-champion who rarely sparkles for England.
Watch Pickford's passionate antics live on BBC as England kick off Euro 2024 campaign with Carragher left in stitches
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But you build teams around Bellingham; everyone else falls into line.
England were not entirely convincing here - Kane was largely a spectator, Foden was unimpressive and Serbia gave their defence some nervy moments.
Yet they won their opening match of a tournament for a fourth consecutive time under Southgate - and they are as good as through to the knock-out stages as a result.
Gelsenkirchen was the place where Rooney stamped, Cristiano Ronaldo winked, England lost another penalty shoot-out and the Wag circus packed up and left town at the 2006 World Cup.
But forget the bad old days of the ‘Golden Generation’. England are a serious team under Southgate.
Much of the optimism surrounding their chances seemed to have dissipated in recent weeks.
How England rated vs Serbia... as Bellingham shines but TWO big names get 5s
JUDE BELLINGHAM was England’s head boy as Gareth Southgate’s side made a winning start in Germany.
The Real Madrid superstar oozed class throughout and broke the deadlock with only 13 minutes played thanks to an excellent header, dispatching Bukayo Saka’s deflected cross.
But, despite the brilliant start, it was a nervy affair here in Gelsenkirchen.
Serbia exerted significant pressure in the second half, with a few narrow escapes for Southgate’s men.
Harry Kane barely had a kick and the Premier League’s player of the year Phil Foden struggled to have any influence on the left of the Three Lions’ front three.
Here’s how SunSport’s Tom Barclay rated England’s stars… with TWO stars getting just a 5.
Harry Maguire used to be seen as a problem but no Harry Maguire was a bigger problem still.
Southgate’s excessive loyalty to his favourites had been holding England back but when he axed several of those favourites, his squad lacked experience.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was too good not to play but then when he turned up in central midfield there were questions over his lack of gametime in the engine room.
Still, all the fretting since the friendly defeat by Iceland had not taken into account one thing - England are a different team when Bellingham is playing.
He takes a sad song and makes it better, as England’s supporters sang with their mass rendition of ‘Hey Jude’ after his goal.
England’s fans had colonised the vast majority of the 62,000-capacity Veltins Arena, there had been a blast of Football’s Coming Home in the warm-up and the traditional booing of national anthems and then we were off.
Southgate’s team were patient for 13 minutes, pawing at their opponents, casing the joint.
It all felt too slow - but then Kyle Walker thrust a pass through the inside-right channel, Bukayo Saka darted onto it and his deflected cross was met by a close-range header from Bellingham, who had timed his charge perfectly.
He cupped his ears at the Serbian fans behind the goal. He doesn’t give a stuff. After scoring at Hampden Park last autumn, he stood and stretched out his arms like Christ the Redeemer, he’s done similar in a Clasico in Barcelona.
He doesn’t just enjoy beating people, he likes to rub their noses in it.
Like Ali standing over a stricken Sonny Liston.
It’s not a typical English trait but it’s beautiful to see.
Why not show arrogance when you have so much to be arrogant about?
There was a minor scare when Alexander-Arnold lost possession deep in England’s half but Aleksandar Mitrovic drilled his shot into the side-netting.
The Liverpool man soon won a fine tackle and Saka - in effervescent form - fed Walker, who bore down on goal but chose to cross when he should have shot.
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Then came a moment when Bellingham pinged a first-time pass 30 yards across field to Walker.
The ball had gone backwards but the technique was so delicious that the crowd broke into spontaneous applause, the sort you’d expect to greet a crisp drive to the cover boundary at Lord’s or a backhand down the line at Wimbledon.
Soon Bellingham was beating his man with a swivel and a shuffle on the edge of his own box, driving forward and winning a free-kick - the kid from the city of the Bull Ring, shaping up like a matador.
Kane had touched the ball just twice in the first half and after the interval it was Serbia doing much of the attacking.
Jarrod Bowen replaced Saka and instantly centred for Kane, whose header was pushed on to the bar by Predrag Rajkovic.
Then Pickford tipped over a fierce drive from Dusan Vlahovic.
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Bellingham was often defending deep but occasionally he popped up on the left, performing step-overs and feints.
If England are to win this tournament, Bellingham will be the chief reason why.
Trent showed he's a central character for England... he deserves to keep spot, says Wilshere
THIS game felt a bit like an audition for Trent Alexander-Arnold in centre midfield, writes SunSport columnist Jack Wilshere.
I think he passed it and deserves another chance to show all the qualities that he can bring to the role.
I was pleased when I saw Trent in the starting line-up.
It’s a little bit braver than we have normally seen from Gareth Southgate and I like that.
It was: ‘Go on, go and play!’ It didn’t necessarily work out like that but that wasn’t Trent’s fault.
Southgate was experimenting with him in there, seeing if it worked.
If we get later in the tournament against the big teams, you will need someone who has played in there a few times and understands the position a bit.
The combination between Trent, Kyle Walker and Bukayo Saka is a promising one.
You see Trent naturally drift over to that right side and receive it almost like a full-back.
It’s interesting what happens then with Walker.
He was still getting involved in and around the outside, which was good to see, and it was Walker who got forward to help create the Jude Bellingham goal.
That link-up is something we need to exploit more. We should probably have used it more last night as well.
At the start, he was a little bit shaky. He gave the ball away a couple of times, and one of them led to that decent chance for Aleksandar Mitrovic.
When he plays for Liverpool he comes inside. But it’s different when you’re in there from the start. It’s 360 degree pressure, from all sides.
I always found international football that bit quicker. You’ll often receive it with your back to the game and you’ve scanned, but you need to get more on the half turn to see what’s coming.
But it was difficult for Trent, especially in the first half, for him to show his range of passing. When you’re playing against a back five, with four in front, and they’re stubborn and just waiting . . . it is very hard.
There’s no space in behind, they’re very tight and organised.
And when the ball is going over your head, your job then becomes jumping on second balls, disrupting and trying to shield the big two up front.
Trent’s positioning was good and he made some good interceptions. I think he can — and should — hold on to the ball a bit more, draw the pressure, and then play the ball forward.
If someone comes to him, that frees up space for someone else. And he and Declan Rice have the ability to find Bellingham and Phil Foden through the lines. I would like to have seen more of that. As the game opens up, Trent is a player who can pick the right pass.
Especially in transition, like he did with a lovely one down the side for Saka in the first half and another early in the second.
It was also good to see him get forward for a decent long-range shot.
But Trent was not helped by England’s performance in the second half. We weren’t aggressive enough, we didn’t press well enough.
Trent’s audition lasted just under 70 minutes in the end. I believe it is something Gareth should persist with.
He is more than intelligent enough to work it out. And as the tournament goes on, I’m sure he will be fine in there.
