Jude Bellingham celebrated his 21st birthday at England’s Euro 2024 base in Blankenhain on Saturday – having already come of age as a La Liga and Champions League winner in his first season at Real Madrid.
He received messages of congratulations from Tottenham’s James Maddison, as well as French midfielder and Real Madrid teammate Aurelien Tchouameni, among others.
But if there was a small cloud over the occasion, it was because the party had not yet begun in earnest for Bellingham and for England here in Germany.
For the first time in a growing rise to global prominence, Bellingham’s performances were subjected to unflattering scrutiny. And this is despite starting Euro 2024 with a bang, scoring the winning goal in England’s opening game against Serbia.
Since then, Bellingham has not only performed poorly but also been highlighted for his petulant body language in the messy draw against Slovenia, which secured England’s top spot in Group C and will face Slovakia in the last 16 in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday. .
Despite all this, however, Bellingham is still likely to be the personality that under-pressure England manager Gareth Southgate looks for as he tries to kick-start a faltering campaign.
Bellingham possesses world-class skills, as well as remarkable maturity and strength of character for someone so young – so he will not be shaken by his iron confidence that he can make an indelible mark at Euro 2024.
If that happens, then it will increase the feeling that England can still somehow extract something glorious from what has been a dismal euro so far. There is a potentially favorable path to the final in Berlin on July 14, but only if Southgate’s side can find the form that puts them among the pre-tournament favourites.
England’s players have been enjoying some downtime ahead of their clash with Slovakia, with golf and padel on the agenda, as Southgate recognized the importance of relaxation in the intense Euro 2024 bubble.
Now it is time, however, for England and hugely influential players like Bellingham to breathe life into their campaign.
Bellingham will know as well as anyone who fell short and the statistics bear out his struggles.
England’s winning header in that opening game remains their only shot on target in three games, out of just three shots in three games. He has created just one chance at Euro 2024 so far, making just five passes into the box.
It is a miserable return for a juggernaut of nature who has scored 19 league goals for Real Madrid in 28 games this season.
Bellingham’s touch deserted him in England’s draws with Denmark and Slovenia, admitting after looking exhausted in the second half of the last game: “I felt like I was absolutely dead.”
He had a grueling first campaign in Madrid and so far it looked like England were paying for that effort.
Southgate, however, has no doubts about Bellingham’s condition or his ability to cope with the rising expectations that his growing stature has brought.
“I think when you come off the field and give it your all, you feel a certain way physically and emotionally,” Southgate said. “He missed a spell at Real Madrid with an ankle injury, then missed a few games towards the end as he prepared for the Champions League final.
“I’m not worried at all about where he’s at with his conditioning.”
The young star’s dip in form has even sparked debate over whether he currently deserves a place in the England squad, as Southgate struggles to find a system that suits Bellingham and Manchester City’s Phil Foden, who has been playing on the left flank.
Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti, that great facilitator of world-class talent, has enough wealth at his disposal to allow Bellingham to play with the freedom he simply cannot have with England.
It has been noted how Federico Valverde is the key to unlocking Bellingham’s brilliance at club level, with the energy and unselfishness to match his teammate’s greater attacking ambitions.
Bellingham has shown signs of internal turmoil amid England’s general mediocrity. This was especially clear in the game against Slovenia, which ended with three plastic cups of beer being thrown towards Southgate by fans after the final whistle, amid a hostile reception for the coach and players.
Former England striker Wayne Rooney showed some sympathy as he told BBC Sport: “To me he looked very frustrated. I was there in exactly the same position as him. You saw him throwing his arms up.”
And Southgate was quick to highlight how Bellingham’s career is still, in some respects, in its infancy when he said on Saturday night: “He’s smiling a lot. It was a big day for him, it being his 21st birthday. It’s also a reminder of his age and how well he’s handled all the expectations around him since he was very young.
“I can understand that his world is very different from most 21-year-olds I know. He handles it exceptionally well and better than most 21-year-olds I know.”
Southgate holds Bellingham in such high regard and values his personality and contribution so much, even at just 21, that he was named in the team’s Euro 2024 ‘leadership group’, along with captain Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Kyle Walker.
Now England need him leading on the field.
