‘People talk a lot’ – Bellingham hits back at critics after helping England to Euro 2024 quarter-finals | OneFootball

Jude Bellingham says his dramatic late equaliser against Slovakia was a response to his and England’s critics as Gareth Southgate’s side made it into the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.

England looked like they were heading home from the tournament, trailing 1-0 in added time of the second half before Bellingham scored a stunning bicycle kick to take it into extra time.

And captain Harry Kane struck just a few minutes later to set up a quarter-final clash with Switzerland.

“I think in international football, in knock-out football, it’s an even worse feeling because you are 30 seconds from going home having to listen to all the rubbish and feeling like you’ve let a nation of people down,” Bellingham said when asked about the predicament England found themselves in.

“And in 30 seconds, one kick of the ball, everything can change. It’s a feeling that I don’t like to be in but when it’s done it feels great.”

And pushed on what he meant, Bellinngham added: “I think you know what I mean by the rubbish.

“I think playing for England, it should be one of the most proud things in a footballer’s career but often at times it is quite difficult. The really high and intense pressure, the fans expect a lot from us regardless of what happened in recent tournaments and years and years ago.

“People talk a lot, and you do have to take it personally a little bit. We work so hard at this game, we come in and we train every day so hard to try and put on performances for the fans and sometimes it doesn’t go well.

“Sometimes it feels like there’s a bit of a pile on and it’s not nice to hear but you can always use it and for moments like that it’s nice to throw it back to some people, I suppose.”

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