VALENCIA. For the first time as a starter in the Euro Cup, reduced to 55 minutes in his three previous games in this competition in 2021, Jude Bellingham decided England’s practical victory with a header, far from the shining shine of his names or a lineup with him, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden, waiting to reach the dimension that is assumed, beyond a minimal victory against Serbia.
Jude’s move to Real Madrid has given him a scoring dimension that was unthinkable not long ago for the midfielder, today more of a striker than a midfielder, more of an unstoppable finisher than a creator. This Sunday was his 46th game of the course. He has scored 26 goals. In his entire time with Dortmund and the national team (158 games between them before he joined the white club) he added 25. One less. In 112 more duels.
‘Hey Jude, Hey Jude’, thousands of English people shouted when he was replaced in the 85th minute, when he gave way to a centre-half, Mainoo, because Southgate saw everything in danger in the final moments.
Because England won because of their shot. The English team, from whom much more was expected, was not much more. When Gareth Southgate revealed his eleven, the world looked impressed. Foden, Bellingham, Saka and Kane. The symphony sounded perfect, clear, imposing. On the field he reduced his volume tremendously. But it was decisive. Three of them participated in the first goal. She doesn’t even need to play at a high level to be definitive. An incalculable value. It is worth beating certain teams. Is it enough for her to be European champion?
Although a succession of individuals of such magnitude is not an absolute guarantee, there are hardly any teams in the world that have as much power or as much punch in attack as the current English team; runner-up in 2021, among the favorites in 2024. There is no middle ground for her. He has never won this tournament. And there is a lot of pressure.
It is not easy to overwhelm Serbia at any time. Far from their past, probably, when they dominated the final phases at the beginning of the Euro Cup, players like Kostic (injured before the break), Milinkovic Savic, Vlahovic or Mitrovic describe a group of power up front, which is firm at the back; the option that Stojkovic opted for against the rival level.
From the start, the Balkan team felt inferior, withdrew and waited. He didn’t last even a quarter of an hour. No matter how compact you are, no matter how well you narrow the spaces, England has so much skill in many of its players that certainties do not exist for any opponent. Suddenly, without realizing it, without realizing it, the score was 0-1. This is England.
The first goal was an unequivocal demonstration. Another long possession. Even Kyle Walker. His pass into space overshot Serbia’s left wing, the right wing of the English attack, for Saka’s run. His lopsided cross transformed it into the powerful goal, Bellingham. His arrival was undetectable, between Kane’s unmarking. His header was incontestable.
From Bellingham’s goal, who not only scores goals, but plays as much as he wants, with a ease that exudes extraordinary simplicity, England broke Serbia’s plan, but also led it to a scenario that it did not dislike either. Freed from the defensive precautions, invalid since the 13th minute, he dared to take a step forward. To believe it.
And the Balkan team has the equipment to play on the attack, as Vlahovic demonstrated when he tested his forehand. Out. The striker has lessened the impact with which he astonished Europe not long ago. The offense also involves excessive exposure against an opponent of the caliber of the one he faced. Kyle Walker ran around the field to cross, then Bukayo Saka couldn’t find a finisher on another run down the right. Nothing else.
Because, in all the splendor of the names in their starting lineup, England must also demand more from me. Within the complexity, he lacked consistency in his offensive. He did not create a number of chances as his resources and his overflow suggest. The next one, well into the second half, was a shot from Alexander Arnold, a center half this Sunday.
Needs more ambition. And he must also adjust in defense, because he granted options that are decisive in greater challenges. It was not certain, amid the feeling that the edge of victory, so minimal, with only a 0-1 in favor, was so thin that any carelessness would be fatal. England still committed some more. Serbia did not take advantage of it, demanding the VAR and a penalty on Mitrovic. It didn’t seem like it.
By then the British team was already playing with fire, which had the verdict in a Kane header that Rajkovic repelled against the crossbar, but it also required Pîckford’s effort to prevent Vlahovic from making it 1-1, between the ups and downs, already inside the resistance mode that England opted for for the final stretch. Or since much before. Too complacent with a single goal. From Bellingham, the leader of the leader of group C of Euro 2024.
– Data sheet:
0 – Serbia: Rajkovic; Zivkovic (Birmancevic, m. 74), Veljkovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic, Kostic (Mladenovic, m. 43); Milinkovic Savic, Gudelj (Ilic, m. 46), Lukic (Jovic, m. 60); Vlahovic; Mitrovic (Tadic, d. 60).
1 – England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier; Alexander Arnold (Gallagher, d. 69), Rice; Saka (Foden, d. 75), Bellingham (Mainoo, d. 85), Foden; Kane.
Goal: 0-1, m. 13: Bellingham.
Referee: Daniel Orsato (Italy). He cautioned Serbian Gudelj with a yellow card (m. 39).
Incidents: match corresponding to the first day of group C of Euro 2024, played at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen in front of around 50,000 spectators.
