Jude Bellingham silenced his critics with a late equaliser during England’s dramatic 2-1 victory against Slovakia. The victory sends the Three Lions into the quarter-finals, where they will face Switzerland on Saturday. In a press conference after the game, the Real Madrid star was quick to remind fans about the resilience of the current England side.
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Jude Bellingham silences critics with late goal in England win
In a post-match press conference with the media, Bellingham said: “Sometimes it feels like there's a pile-on from the fans… moments like tonight throw it back to some people.” England have been below par throughout Euro 2024 so far and were on the verge of exiting the competition on Sunday evening. However, the Real Madrid midfielder scored an overhead kick in the 95th minute to equalise send the game to extra-time.
“Sometimes it feels like there's a pile-on from the fans… moments like tonight throw it back to some people” 👀
Jude Bellingham on how England's dramatic 2-1 win over Slovakia can hush the doubters… 🍿 pic.twitter.com/bK3D24sKXq
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) June 30, 2024
Kane and Lineker incident
It is not the first time that an England player has criticised fans or former players for critiquing the performance levels from Gareth Southgate’s side at Euro 2024. Former England striker Gary Lineker described the Three Lions’ group stage performance against Denmark as “s***” and said that Kane had “to do a lot a better”. He was speaking on his podcast, The Rest is Football, which he regularly does with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.
In response to Lineker’s comments, Kane said: “What ex-players or ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise is it is very hard not to listen to it now, especially for some players who are not used to it or some players who are new to the environment.
“I always feel like they [pundits] have a responsibility – I know they have got to be honest and give their opinion but also, they have a responsibility of being an ex-England player that a lot of players look up to. People do listen to them and people do care what they say.”
Kane reminds Lineker of England's underachievement
Lineker reached the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup under Sir Bobby Robson but was never able to secure silverware for his country. The Three Lions have not won a major tournament since 1966, which Kane was quick to remind the likes of Lineker. He added: “The bottom line is we haven’t won anything as a nation for a long, long time and a lot of these players were part of that as well and they know how tough it is. So it is not digging anyone out. It is just the reality that they do know it is tough to play in these major tournaments, and tough to play for England. I would never disrespect any ex-player.
“All I would say is, remember what it is like to wear the shirt and that their words are listened to. Some of the lads… I don’t know how many, but we do hear it. We all want to win a major tournament and I am sure they want us to win a major tournament, and being as helpful as they can and building the lads up with confidence would be a much better way of going about it.”