GELSENKIRCHEN: England player Jude Bellingham is not only proud to have scored an acrobatic equalizer at the last minute to save his team from being eliminated in the last 16 of Euro 2024 at the hands of Slovakia, but also silenced the critics of The Three Lions.
England looked unable to match Slovakia, who took the lead through Ivan Schranz in the 25th minute, but Bellingham’s goal in the last minute of stoppage time took the game into extra time – which was opened by Harry Kane’s winner for 2-1.
“In international football, in the knockout stages, it’s the worst feeling because you’re 30 seconds away from being sent home and have to listen to all the nonsense, it feels like you’re letting everyone down.
“But in 30 seconds, one kick can change everything. It’s a feeling I never wanted and never wanted to be in. But when it happened, it felt great.
“Playing for England is a wonderful feeling but also brings pressure. People talk rubbish and it’s wonderful when you give your best performance, it shuts them up.
“It is difficult to come to press conferences and interviews as footballers because we are always judged.
“For me, playing football and being on the pitch, scoring a goal, celebrating it is my way of releasing pressure, it might be a message to some people,” said Bellingham who was also named man of the match.