European Football Championship: World star Jude Bellingham pushes England off the rubbish dump in Gelsenkirchen

England’s faltering billion-dollar team has just saved itself from an embarrassing European Championship exit in the round of 16 thanks to its top stars. But can this pragmatism close to the abyss really be enough to make the big dream come true?

At 7:54 p.m. this football match should have stopped. At 7:54 p.m. the next big football nation after Italy should have come to terms with its own collapse. Against the gigantic anger of the desperate fans. But at 7:54 p.m. Jude Bellingham’s leg flew high through the air and sent the ball into the Slovakian goal with a scissor-kick – 1:1, redemption. The greatest embarrassment of this European Championship was just averted by the English, by their superstar, in the round of 16. The staid David was close to reducing the at times shockingly weak Goliath in Gelsenkirchen to rubble. What a story that would have been, in “Gelsenkörken” of all places, about which so much excitement had been caused.

But in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Bellingham came on. There were actually no good reasons for these long extra minutes. But England didn’t care. The lion roared loudly, Real Madrid’s world star stood monumentally in front of the stands, on the other side the white shirts flew off the trembling bodies. Every Englishman looked for his own way to deal with the madness of “Gelsenkörken”.

Up until that 95th minute, England’s football was in ruins. The state of the team is similar to the state of the country. It is a state of decay that is hardly acceptable. They had played “garbage” in the city of slag heaps, as a reporter from the motherland of football complained. This was the next “shit”, as the critical expert Gary Lineker had already judged after the Three Lions’ second game in this tournament. There is great despair in the country. The title is what they want. 58 years of pain must finally end. But at the moment the pain therapy is not working. English football causes severe suffering. Mental and physical. The superstars of coach Gareth Southgate stumble across the pitch with cruelty to the point of unbearableness. Does that still qualify as pragmatism or is it just catastrophic, shocking?

The fans in the country have made up their minds. They can no longer do anything with Southgate’s plan. After the group final against Slovenia (0:0), beer mugs were thrown in his direction and he was booed. Like the gentleman that he is, he accepted the anger with open arms. When his name was announced for the first time by the stadium announcer that Sunday evening, around 30 minutes before kick-off, there were loud whistles. When he went to the bench before kick-off, he applauded them. This politeness was ignored. Southgate, and it’s not going to go out on a limb here, is the only way to reconcile. And that’s what he wants. He wants to give the country as a coach what he failed to achieve as a player. In 1996 he was the tragic hero at the home European Championships. He missed the penalty before Andreas Möller scored the winning goal for the DFB team.

“Prayer for free”

And Southgate has brought a monstrous squad to Germany for this project. The market value of the squad is 1.5 billion euros. By comparison: the DFB team is worth a little more than half that (831 million). The French, the second big favorite for the title, are also worth 1.23 billion. But as gigantic as the individual values ​​are, England’s performance is absurdly amateurish. After 25 minutes, Slovakia embarrassed the Three Lions’ back line. 30-year-old Ivan Schranz from Slavia Prague, worth about as much as the left toe of world star Bellingham (two million euros), ran into the open space, was perfectly served, pushed himself in front of Marc Guehi and finished confidently. England was shocked. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford swore like a taxi driver in London traffic, growling at God and the world.

The holy authority had been an important point of contact even before the game. A small group offered “Prayer for free”, free prayers. Several fans took advantage of this, they closed their eyes, held hands, prayed for a good defense and good attacks. Was this a pious counter-movement to the coach? Unclear. But there were obviously problems with the transmission. Classic at football games: a lot of time passes between sending and receiving messages. On this evening it took until the 95th minute. The football god had chosen Bellingham as his emissary. “Jude does what Jude does. What an incredible goal,” said captain Harry Kane: “That was one of the best goals in the history of our country, I think.” “Everything he touches turns to gold,” cheered the BBC. The “Daily Mail” wrote about the “comeback kings” – and Lineker said to X: “That’s why he’s a superstar. Juuuuuuude.” The choice of this great comparative reveals the great liberation of the lions.

They had played for at least the first 45 minutes like a chained up big cat in a zoo. Lethargic, with no ambition to achieve great things. Added to that were inexplicable bad passes. The ball was not brought to a teammate for just a few meters. Crosses sailed into oblivion. Even the long-suffering Schalke fans were amazed at the lack of football that the best players in the world brought onto the pitch (or not). John Stones, otherwise a highly valued professional at Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, was completely desperate and at times careless. He looked for playing partners, but they hid cleverly. The only problem is that this game is not called hide and seek, but football. Phil Foden, the best player in the Premier League, hardly dared to do anything. Kieran Tripper even less. Kane did not play. The list goes on. The “Sun” later cursed “95 minutes of unbearable embarrassment”.

No depth, no width, no speed, no courage

Southgate bore it all largely with equanimity. He occasionally jumped up and clapped, but he didn’t offer much more emotion or active coaching. In complete contrast to national coach Julian Nagelsmann on Saturday against Denmark, he swept through his coaching zone in high-voltage mode. Like a lion on prey. Southgate, on the other hand, was the velvet paw. In England, they are despairing. The fact that England had already had to survive several critical situations at the time of the 0-1 goal caused anger in the stands to grow. When Guehi and Stones were still passing the ball to each other so dispassionately after 30 minutes, as if the team were leading by a landslide and only waiting for the end, a mighty chorus of whistles broke out. Southgate reacted, stood up. But his English team couldn’t find a solution. How could they, with no depth, no breadth, no speed, no courage? Gary Neville, former international player and now expert, complained: “It’s unrealistic to think that we can survive a tournament for a month with the way we play.” But they’re still alive.

In the second half, the coach let his lions off the leash. But they didn’t know what to do with their new-found freedom. Like a young cat on its first walk in the garden, they slowly felt their way forward, gradually discovering their new territory. The Slovakians were pushed deeper and deeper, but rarely had problems defending the mostly unsuccessful crosses from the English. Since there were no other surprises, they were not caught off guard. However, the pressure became ever greater, and the resistance ever weaker. The angry number six Declan Rice hammered the ball against the post just ten minutes before the final whistle, Kane put the rebound over and Foden sank to the ground, where England were.

And when the game was still going on, without any obvious reason, the “dead” world star hit the Slovakians in the heart – and how. Before the game, Bellingham had announced how exhausted he was from this long season. But he always finds a remaining percentage of battery somewhere before his engine collapses. It is a battle with himself, with his tired body. In his great dissatisfaction, he tends to make derogatory gestures against his own team and the referee. There are some unpleasant mannerisms involved.

“Who else?!”

This England is saving itself through the tournament through individual class. And Bellingham has to do it again and again, playing so exhausted, looking so desperate, being attacked and yet always picking himself up again. Once again in the “shithole” of Gelsenkirchen, with which the English fans have long since reconciled themselves after their initial rage and where Bellingham is becoming a great hero in the wrong place because of his BVB past. He had already scored here against Serbia. “Jude is where he is for a reason. He is capable of such things, he does that in training. I expected it from him,” said late substitute Ivan Toney. The savior himself admitted: “I am happy. You should use every chance you have.”

After his scissor kick, however, he was less reserved. According to lip readers, he said: “Who else?!” And when asked who writes the script for his dramas, he replied: “Me!” But he was not the only protagonist of the spectacular rescue mission of the staggering motherland. Extra time had barely started when Kane scored with a header. England went wild. The miracle, which would otherwise have been an embarrassment, had been achieved.

Southgate, whose survival as national coach hung by a thread, had his own view of things: “I never had the feeling that tonight would be the end of our tournament.” The images he delivered afterwards, however, spoke a completely different language. He took a lot of time to hug his heroes. Bellingham, Kane and all the others. The fans in the stadium roared “Sweet Caroline” from their released bodies and later, on the way to the train, hummed “Hey Jude”. Their prayers were answered. On Saturday they will play against Switzerland. The Switzerland that finally abandoned Italy to its own disintegration.