‘Nice to give a bit back’

Jude Bellingham said it is nice to give a “little bit back” as he responded to England’s critics following the side’s dramatic win against Slovakia in the last 16 of Euro 2024.

Bellingham scored a spectacular overhead kick in the 95th minute to equalise before England went on to win 2-1 in extra time and secure a quarter-final against Switzerland on Saturday.

“Playing for England is an enjoyable feeling but it’s also a lot of pressure,” said the Real Madrid midfielder.

“You hear people talk a lot of rubbish. It’s nice when you can deliver and give them a little bit back.”

England progressed through to the knockout stages by finishing top of their group but have been criticised for the manner of their performances.

They beat Serbia 1-0, drew 1-1 with Denmark and were held to a goalless draw by Slovenia prior to the last-16 tie.

England went behind against Slovakia in Gelsenkirchen before Bellingham’s dramatic goal and Harry Kane’s winner sent them through.

“It’s very difficult when you talk in press conferences and interviews to talk as openly as footballers want to because they’re always judged,” added Bellingham, who marked his goal with his trademark open-armed celebration and appeared to mouth, ‘Who else?’

“For me, football, being on the pitch, scoring goals and celebrating is my release. Maybe it was a message to a few people. I was very happy at the end, lots of adrenaline.

“It’s a feeling that is like no other. In international football, in knockout football, it’s even a worse feeling, because you’re 30 seconds from going home.

“Having to listen to all the rubbish, feeling like you have let a nation of people down. In one kick of the ball, everything can change.”

Earlier in the tournament, Kane had called on former England internationals who were now pundits to “remember what it’s like to wear the shirt” before being critical of the current side.

“You know what I mean by the rubbish,” said Bellingham.

“People talk a lot. You do have to take it personally a little bit. We work so hard at this game.

“We come in every day, we work hard to put on a performance for the fans, sometimes it doesn’t go well and sometimes it feels like there’s a bit of a pile on, it’s not nice to hear.

“But you can always use it and for moments like that, it’s nice to throw it back to some people.”

Following the match, Bellingham was seen making a crotch-grabbing gesture which he denied was aimed at England’s beaten opponents.

“An inside-joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game,” Bellingham posted on social media.

“Nothing but respect for how that Slovakia team played tonight.”

Asked after the Slovakia game about who writes his scripts, Bellingham replied: “I do.”

ITV pundit Gary Neville was England manager Roy Hodgson’s assistant when the team suffered a shock defeat by Iceland in the last 16 of Euro 2016.

Neville said England’s performance against Slovakia gave him “Iceland vibes” before manager Gareth Southgate’s side avoided a similar exit.

“The players are starting to sound like those of the past, referring to outside criticism,” said Neville following the match.

“Lads, get your innocence back, get your love for tournament football back. No-one wants to lose here, everyone wants you to win.

“No-one has criticised them personally, no-one is questioning their character, no-one has said they’re not working hard – all we’ve said is they’re not playing football very well and there’s an imbalance in the team.

“It still needs sorting and it’s not like the criticism has been over the top in that respect.”

Speaking alongside Neville on ITV, former Republic of Ireland midfielder Roy Keane said: “You have to give them praise as we were really critical at half-time but they found a way to win. The top players found a moment.

“God help us if Bellingham starts playing well. They had two huge moments and they got themselves over the line. Credit where it’s due.”

BBC Sport football news reporter Alex Howell:

Many elite athletes have spoken about how they use external issues or ideas in their heads to motivate them to continue to perform at a high level.

There are stories about Cristiano Ronaldo pushing team-mates to match his training levels and Michael Jordan in the Netflix documentary ‘The Last Dance’ continually mentions how he would use things not in his control to drive him to perform at his limit.

It seems that Bellingham is no different to those iconic athletes.

During the post-match press conference Bellingham said it was nice to “give a bit back” to people who had been speaking “rubbish” about him and England.

The Real Madrid midfielder also runs his own social media, external and in his post on Instagram after the match included a picture of a section of a famous speech from former President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.

‘The Man in the Arena’ starts by saying ‘It is not the critic who counts…’ and is basically saying the person performing should get the credit – and not those speaking about the performance.

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