Serbia 0, England 1 – Euro 2024
Jude Bellingham scored the only goal as England got their Euro 2024 campaign off to a winning start against Serbia in Germany.
Bellingham was effusive about England’s performance against Serbia at the start of of a promising tournament.
He said: “First half showed us why we can score goals against any team, second half showed that we can keep a clean sheet against any team.
“When you keep a clean sheet all you have to do is score one goal to win the game.
“Overall I’m pleased with the performance.
“It’s special to score any time for England, especially a match winning goal.
“In every game I feel like I can make an impact, the truth is I enjoy playing football – it’s my favourite thing to do in the world.”
And he had special praise for his midfield partners – Trent Alexander-Arnold and Declan Rice in England’s new-look midfield.
He added: “We had a great balance with and without the ball. Trent’s quality is unmatched and I look forward to having more minutes with him.
“Declan was fantastic, one of the best in the world in his position.”
In a largely expected England line-up, Phil Foden was stationed on the left wing to accommodate Bellingham in the number 10 role.
Kieran Trippier was named at left back with Luke Shaw still not fit while Marc Guess partnered John Stones and Trent Alexander-Arnold was chosen to complement Bellingham and Declan Rice in midfield.
Bellingham scored after 13 minutes of a purple patch for Gareth Southgate’s men as they dominated play at the Stadium AufShalke in Gelsenkirchen.
The 20-year-old, who capped a fine debit season for Real Madrid by lifting the La Liga title and the Champions League, powered himself onto the end of Bukayo Saka’s deflected cross from the right and headed the ball home for what turned out to be the only goal of the game.
It was a man-of-the-match performance from imposing midfielder who capitalised on disciplined performances by Captain Harry Kane and Phil Foden to release him to do this thing.
After going in front England seemed to lose intensity from the half hour mark as the experiment of using Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield had mixed results.
Captain Harry Kane could have doubled the lead but his effort was tipped onto the bar by Serbia goalkeeper Pedrag Rajkovic.
Serbian danger-man Aleksandar Mitrovic shot wide as England’s opponents improved in the second half but could not beat Jordan Pickford who saved from Dusan Vlahovic late on to keep a clean sheet.