“In 30 seconds and with a single shot, everything can change,” said Jude Bellingham after England’s dramatic 2-1 victory after extra time in the European Championship round of 16 against Slovakia.
With his overhead kick to make it 1-1 in the 95th minute, Bellingham saved England in extra time on Sunday and enabled his team to advance to the quarter-finals against Switzerland at the last moment.
“To score such an important goal, for the national team and in a knockout match, it’s a feeling like no other,” said the Real Madrid attacking midfielder. “You’re 30 seconds away from going home, hearing all the nonsense and feeling like you’ve let down a whole nation. And in 30 seconds and with one shot, everything can change.”
Probably the most important goal
His overhead kick was “probably the most important goal” of his career, said Bellingham, who celebrated his 21st birthday with the team the day before the match and was voted “Man of the Match” against Slovakia. “There are some beautiful goals, ones that mean a lot to me personally, like my first goals for Birmingham, Dortmund and Madrid. They are always special goals, but this one is at the top.”
England fell behind after 25 minutes against Slovakia and struggled to go forward for a long time. After Bellingham’s redeeming equaliser in the second-to-last minute of stoppage time, Harry Kane scored to make it 2-1 at the start of extra time.
Satisfied with the team performance
“Apart from their goal, we were pretty good. We had a lot of control, we were in very good areas, we were very dangerous,” said Bellingham. A view not shared by all spectators, given the first 75 minutes with a lot of possession but little decisiveness and many crosses into thin air.
“There were one or two moments where I thought we could have been more precise, but overall I thought we performed well,” Bellingham concluded.
