England began their Euro 2024 campaign with a victory over Serbia on Sunday at the AufSchalke Arena in Gelsenkirchen. In the exciting encounter, it was Jude Bellingham, who proved to be the star of the Three Lions when he scored the decisive goal. It took him just 13 minutes to score the point in his Group C opener. However, a violent altercation between England and Serbia fans took place before this match, which caught everyone’s attention.
Some Albanian fans were also involved in the violent clash, which took place in a bar in Gelsenkirchen. According to reports, Albanian fans started the altercation against Serbian fans, who are their arch-rivals.
Moments later, English fans also got involved and it ended up being a huge mass brawl. Many videos and images of the incident went viral on social media, showing broken tables, chairs and glass bottles.
“There was a sudden explosion of violence. It came out of nowhere. It wasn’t clear who started what. But to me it looked like a group of English fans broke into the bar where the Serbs were drinking and it all started with thrown tables, chairs and bottles,” said MailOnline, citing an eyewitness.
“One man had blood running from a head wound – he was English, I believe,” the eyewitness further stated.
The game between England and Serbia was later declared “high risk” by German police, due to this clash which saw seven Serbian fans detained.
Speaking about the match, Bellingham started the move in midfield with a measured pass to Kyle Walker before racing into the box to meet Bukayo Saka’s cross with a superb header that found the net from six yards.
After being mobbed by his teammates, Bellingham showed his comfort in the spotlight, soaking up the English fans’ adulation with his arms outstretched before running into the center circle to cheer on fans on the other side.
Scoring England’s first goal at a major tournament is nothing new for Bellingham, who headed the first goal against Iran at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Bellingham is the first European player to appear in three major tournaments before turning 21, having previously played at Euro 2020 and the last World Cup.
(With AFP inputs)
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