“I feel I can make a difference in any game,” says Jude Bellingham after scoring England’s winner

Jude Bellingham reacted tonight after scoring the goal that secured England’s 1-0 win over Serbia in Gelsenkirchen tonight, the first of their EURO2024 campaign.

The last time they played on that hallowed turf in a major tournament was back in the 2006 World Cup, which will most infamously be remembered for Wayne Rooney’s sending off and the subsequent Cristiano Ronaldo wink that followed.

But this time, England were on the winning side, and there was little controversy – though it was a nervy watch for England fans all around, with a dominant first-half display which saw 20-year-old Jude Bellingham be the man once again, cancelled out by a timid second-half, with little action in the final third…except for a critical save by Predrag Rajković to deny Harry Kane his first goal of the tournament, with his save tipping the ball onto the bar.

What did Bellingham say?

It was a worthy man of the match performance by the Real Madrid midfielder was the difference maker between three-points and a draw, who, after winning the Champions League in his last outing now has England goal number four to his name.

“It’s really special to score any time for England, especially one that gives us a win and three points – and hopefully sets us up for a good performance.”

Aside from his typical celebration in which he simply spreads his arms out to the crowd, he garnered some attention for his celebration with midfield partner, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and when probed about the meaning behind it, the 20-year-old starlet said it was an ode to England’s backroom staff: “The celebration is from a game we played called Wolf, but it’s really for the backroom staff – they don’t get any awards like this but we really appreciate them.”

England were simply dominant in possession for the majority of the first half, and could have scored a handful, after Bukayo Saka toyed with his defenders, and put in at least two delicious crosses that should have found an England man on the end of them.

However, the second-half was a much tighter affair with Serbia, who became more and more threatening to England’s backline as time went on.

That didn’t worry Bellingham, though, who saw the positives in each half, noting that the second-half in particular showed that the Three Lions’ defence was stout, with initial concerns heading into the tournament surrounding the back four and centre-back pairing in particular, with Harry Maguire failing to recover from a nagging lower leg injury in time.

Marc Guéhi had a spectacular performance in his major tournament debut, with a 96% pass completion rate, 100% tackles won, and 100% ground duels won outing.

“The first half shows why we can score goals against any team, and the second half shows we can keep a clean sheet against any team,” Bellingham said. “We had to suffer a bit but we kept a clean sheet and when you do that, you only need to score one goal to win the game. Overall, we’ll be happy with that performance.”

Coming into the game, there was a lot of excitement around Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold getting the nod in midfield, alongside Bellingham and Declan Rice. While he certainly wasn’t at his best in this first game, the Real Madrid man couldn’t help but praise his partners, believing that together, they brought ‘great balance’ to the team in the middle of the park.

“I loved it [playing with Alexander-Arnold]. We had a great balance with and without the ball. Trent was brilliant, he dictates the game; he’s always positive and that really helps someone like me because I love to attack and get at their back line. As always, Dec [Rice] was fantastic. I look forward to seeing how far we can take this and how much potential there is in there.”

For Bellingham in particular, the 20-year-old is not short of confidence, and admits that even out there on the European stage, he plays as if it’s just another game of football.

“I just enjoy playing football,” said Bellingham as he addressed the media. “I take each one as a separate game instead of looking too far into the future. I feel like I can make a difference in any game. I play with a fearlessness because it’s what I love to do. It’s not a job, it feels like a pleasure.”

Bellingham’s confidence and belief in the team oozed on the pitch, and he was often seen smiling and laughing… even in the last few minutes on the games on the bench when the game was still firmly in the balance.

But, it might just be this element of swagger and calmness that could be the difference maker in whether or not a team like England can progress deep into tournaments.

“I felt really confident coming into the game,” says Bellingham. “I couldn’t wait to play in such an amazing tournament with such an amazing group of players. You could see I was enjoying my football, getting on the ball and trying to make things happen. The goal comes from great movement between some great players; those kind of magic moments when it comes together naturally is really nice.”

And finally, on the song by The Beatles which carries his namesake, which rang round the stadium after he became the only the second player in English football history to score in a World Cup and Euros before the age of 21:

“I listen to the Beatles a lot – my style of music is old so that’s right up my street.”

It’s not just his music taste that is ‘old’, he an essence of old-school vibes and maturity when he plays on the pitch too.

Cool, calm, collected. England’s No. 10 continuing his scintillating club form at the international level. Simply class.