England’s Euro 2024 Progress Hinges on Jude Bellingham’s Heroics

Jude Bellingham’s moment of genius at Euro 2024 keeps England’s hopes of ending 58 years of suffering alive, but the Three Lions did not look like future European champions as they edged past Slovakia 2-1.

It looked like another humiliating defeat for English football at a big tournament at Gelsenkirchen, but in the 95th minute, Bellingham’s spectacular performance won over the Slovaks. Harry Kane then completed the comeback a minute into extra time, securing a quarter-final matchup with Switzerland on Saturday.

But another plodding performance from Gareth Southgate’s team sapped any excitement among the England supporters at finding themselves on the supposedly weaker side of the draw. With an attacking-heavy side, England went into the tournament as the overwhelming favorites.

On the eve of the match, Slovakia’s coach Francesco Calzona emphasized that Southgate is working with “the best squad at the Euros”. However, a squad led by the best scorer in the Bundesliga, Kane, Phil Foden, the Premier League’s player of the year, and Bellingham, the most recent Champions League winner, has been difficult to stop in possession.

Slovakia took advantage of England’s improvised defense early on and had only scored two goals in four games prior to Bellingham’s late intervention.

Before Ivan Schranz sauntered through the middle of the England defence to slide home his third goal of the tournament on 25 minutes, the team rated 45th in the world had previously squandered two significant opportunities.

The AufSchalke Arena held 50,000 spectators, and the majority of them were England supporters. They expressed their dissatisfaction by cheering as the halftime whistle blew.

After the break, Southgate’s team made a slight improvement, but Slovakia defended their advantage well, and aside from a header that Kane missed from a free kick and a long-range effort that deflected off the post, they had not created much.

Disgruntled fans threw empty beer glasses at Southgate, who lamented a “unusual atmosphere” following a 0-0 draw against Slovenia that ensured top spot in Group C.

Also Read: France Edges Belgium to Reach Euro 2024 Quarter-Finals with Late Own Goal Victory

After two lackluster games against Denmark and Slovenia, Bellingham’s flash of genius allowed the England manager and his players to respond to their criticisms with an even more extreme outburst of wrath.

While it’s a lot of fun to play for England, you also hear a lot of people say stupid things. The Real Madrid player remarked, “It’s nice when you deliver you can give them a little bit back. “For me playing football, being on the pitch, scoring goals is my release and it’s maybe a message to a few people.”

Southgate showed greater empathy for the barrage of criticism that is still expected to be directed at his team prior to their Dusseldorf match against the Swiss. “We’re putting a plaster over things and giving young players opportunities,” Southgate stated.

Somehow, we’re managing. Even if we have prevailed, we are still in there, and I can only image how everyone will respond. The passion, the devotion, and the character are the one things that are unquestionable.” All eyes will be on Southgate to find a way to win a major tournament in his fourth attempt, and he has six days to do so.

Switzerland easily defeated Italy, the defending champions, 2-0 on Saturday. They represent a notable improvement over Slovakia. The England manager praised his replacements’ contributions.

Kane’s winning goal was assisted by Eberechi Eze and Ivan Toney, and Cole Palmer provided some momentum from midfield. Nonetheless, Southgate’s decision-making has been called into doubt due to the fact that it took him 66 minutes to make any changes and his insistence on playing 10 of the same 11 players in each of the first four games.

Bellingham‘s intervention guarantees that in the quarterfinals, Southgate will lead his nation for the 100th time.

However, if he is to continue in this role past the century mark, England will need to make significant progress.