It wasn’t a walk in the park but England secured a 1-0 win and three points from their Euro 2024 opener against Serbia; the winner scored by none other than Jude Bellingham off a stunning header. One that highlighted in equal parts his big-stage mindset, game IQ, and a number nine-like poaching instinct, tapping into an aspect of his game that’s been refined at Real Madrid over the past year. It all came together in the 13th minute in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.
The main man
Bellingham has been hyped as England’s main man at these Euros, and the youngster is not shying away from the responsibility.
“I wanted to get on the ball. I wanted to take the game to them early because I wanted to build an energy from the fans to get behind the team. When you’re progressive, it helps in doing that. Trying to be aggressive without the ball as well,” he said after the game.
Serbia manager Dragan Stojkovic had singled out the midfielder in the pre-match press conference, and his players paid extra attention to Bellingham, a player he foresees winning the Ballon D’or in the near future.
Having located Kyle Walker on the right flank from near the centre-circle, Bellingham started jogging his way into the Serbian box even though England had Harry Kane (centre) and Bukayo Saka (right) in more promising positions. As soon as Walker set Saka free on the inside-right channel, the Real Madrid midfielder signaled to the Arsenal winger from the edge of the box – wanting the ball to be fed to him as he continued to jog forward.
Even at that point, Kane was in a much better position at the near post, but was closely marked. Goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic was also covering the goal from that side. Another Serbian player in the box, Andrija Zivkovic, was positioned at the far post – covering for Kieran Trippier. It gave Bellingham a pocket of space to run in. But too early, and he’d have risked Zivkovic thwacking the ball out of danger. It wasn’t until Saka looped the ball into the six-yard box – over Kane and his marker – that Bellingham snuck in from behind and had more than two-thirds of the goal to aim for.
“The timing of his run, it was a super bit of play in the build-up to the goal as well,” England manager Gareth Southgate was awestruck as much as anyone. Rajkovic and Zivkovic, left flat-footed, would’ve prayed for a poor finish. It wasn’t.
Clinical header
Bellingham, who has eight inches on Zivkovic, had given himself further advantage by the final bit of ground he’d covered – a dive to his left, facing the incoming delivery. It also gave him the power he desired to bury his header, angled further away toward the far post. A top-left-corner finish.
