Jude Bellingham turns 23 on Monday. Today he was given an early gift. It was one he already owned, but the attacking midfielder won’t be exchanging this toy. If Bellingham felt undeserving of the Michelob ULTRA Superior Player of the Match award following a 0-0 draw against Ghana – “I’m annoyed we didn’t win,” he said – there was a smile on his face after the 2-0 win over Panama at New York New Jersey Stadium.
“I think Jude’s a top player,” Marcus Rashford told FIFA. “He brings so much to the team. The first time I saw him, I could tell what a top player he is. He has a lot of talent and he delivers. “He’s a great player off the pitch too. One of the main things that I like about Jude is his drive. He doesn't just drive alone; he drives people alongside him. He drives England. He always wants more. “I'm delighted for him today. He got a goal, an assist, gave a top performance. We all know how important he is for this team. We’re going to need him to keep producing performances like this if we want to keep winning.”
Bellingham was happy with scoring and setting up a goal. The self-effacing Real Madrid star was even happy with the award. The only thing that truly mattered to him was that Thomas Tuchel’s team won and finished top of Group L. “The first job [has been] achieved: we came here to do it in sections and now we've achieved that first objective to get through the group and to top it as well,” he said. “We knew what level we wanted to achieve and we did it second half. Every game we’ve got to improve and it’s up to us to achieve that.
“As for the opposition [in the Round of 32], it doesn't really matter to us. To win the World Cup, we're going to have to beat the best teams – every team that deserves to be in the next round. We have to approach every opponent in the same way. We have total respect for whoever we come up against. At the same time, we know that if you want to win the World Cup, you're going to have to face strong teams.”
Tuchel added: “We were the only team to create this amount of chances against Panama. Everyone did what we needed to do, and Jude was a big part of that. There’s more to build on and you have to get so many details right with the aggressive approach we take. “But the tournament starts again now with the knockouts. We collect our strengths and our energy, and we’ll build on what we have. We will step up. The bigger the games, the better we’ll get.” “I think we’re always a confident team,” continued Rashford to FIFA. “We know the work that we’ve got to put in because we’ve still not played at our maximum throughout this tournament yet. But I think we’ve been at a good level.
“Each game has given us something different to try to break down, and we’ve tried our best. We came here to do a job and we got it done. We’re pleased with the group stage but now we need to get better for the knockouts.” England will now head to Atlanta Stadium to face one of the best third-placed teams. England’s No11 believes the Three Lions’ supporters can be their 12th man. “At times it’s tough in games,” explained Rashford. “We know we`ve got a lot of ability, but sometimes things don’t come off. We know, as players, we have to keep going, we have to keep trying to make things happen. “When you have the support of the fans behind you, sometimes it gives you an extra five to 10 percent that you can’t find alone. They were really loud today, positive, and it definitely helps. They really get behind us and we hope it can make a difference in the knockouts.”
Sources: FIFA Official
