Jude Bellingham served notice to the rest of Europe – even if England didn’t.
Bellingham’s first half goal was enough to see see-off Serbia, and make it a winning start for the Three Lions in Group C of Euro 2024. Bellingham continued to enhance his status as one of the new golden boys of world football, becoming only the second Englishman to score at a World Cup and Euros before the age of 21.
Hey Jude, is there nothing you can’t do?
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But while Bellingham’s brilliance had supporters jumping off the sofa back home, England did little else to leave their main rivals in Germany hiding behind one.
Because in a place known as the ‘City of a Thousand Fires’, England’s threatened to rage, before burning out to nothing. The likes of Germany, Spain, Italy and Holland had all made strong starts, piling the pressure on England to do the same.
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And Gareth Southgate named an attacking line-up which included Trent Alexander-Arnold in a midfield role alongside Declan Rice. Bellingham was given the nod in the advanced No.10 role, while Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka flanked him and Kane was the out-and-out striker.
It was the first time this England XI had started together – and no-one could accuse Southgate of being conservative this time. It smacked of a side picked by a manager who knew this would be his last crack of glory.
This was the time for Southgate and his team to make that final step from good to great.
Serbia got a good luck message from tennis icon Novak Djokovic on the big screen before kick off. But it was rendered meaningless inside 13 minutes when England took the lead.
Kyle Walker released the impressive Saka with a slide rule pass, and when the Arsenal winger picked out Bellingham, the outcome was inevitable.
Bellingham, who scored England’s first goal of their last World Cup campaign, powered past Andrija Zivkovic before beating Predrag Rajkovic with an unstoppable header into the top corner.
Aleksandar Mitrovic could have equalised minutes later following a mistake from Alaxendar-Arnold, but fired just wide.
It was a warning, but England should have doubled their lead when Kyle Walker sped down the right before cutting back a cross which somehow avoided Kane, Foden and Alexander-Arnold.
A similar run and cross from Saka also came to nothing, as England continued to boss the game without getting the rewards. But Bellingham was running the show, with some magnificent help from Saka.
All Serbia could do to stop Bellingham was foul him, and Nemanja Gudelj was booked for a crude challenge on the man of the moment. But Bellingham’s dominance was leaving Kane looking lost.
The England captain had just to touches in the first half, while Serbia began to grow in confidence after the break as the likes of Foden and Alexander-Arnold struggled to make an impact.
Dusan Vlahovic fizzed a ball across the face of Jordan Pickford’s goal, while Mitrovic also caused panic in the England defence. England needed a second goal, but Kane headed a cross from substitute Jarrod Bowen onto the crossbar as the tension continued to mount.
Pickford tipped Vlahovic’s shot over the top, before Kane headed another shot clear from inside his six yard box.
But thanks to Bellingham, it was all white on the night. Well, just about.