Jude Bellingham felt ‘like Ronaldo’ while scoring bicycle kick vs Slovakia | OneFootball

England have not enjoyed a memorable tournament at the Euros so far and the last weekend brought the epitome of their struggles in the form of a hard-fought game against Slovakia.

Despite winning just one of their three group-stage games, the Three Lions entered the Round of 16 clash as the overwhelming favourites. Slovakia, however, shocked the world by taking an early lead and holding onto it until the very end.

Just when the game seemed to be over and all of England had resigned to a shambolic end to their campaign, Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham struck gold for his side with a 95th-minute equaliser. The rest, as they say, was history.

Speaking in an interview (h/t Sky Sports) after the team’s narrow escape in the Round of 16, the man of the moment was asked about the clutch goal he scored for his side in added time.

“It was really instinct more than anything. It kind of fell in the perfect spot and it was a little bit behind me,” he began modestly, playing down his effort.

“When I was in the air I thought, ‘I’m six feet off the ground and it’s like Ronaldo!’ But I’ve watched it back and I still had one hand on the ground, so it wasn’t the most acrobatic,” he added.

Bellingham came to England’s rescue against Slovakia. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Remembering the moment when he acrobatically struck the ball into the back of the net, Bellingham said,

“But it was a nice contact. Definitely one of the most important and memorable moments of my career so far.”

The Real Madrid midfielder then admitted that his side did not put up the best show against Slovakia and labelled the game as ‘not enjoyable.’

“Not the most enjoyable way to win a game. Obviously, you always want to feel like you are in control and comfortable.”

He then insisted, however, that such games were a part and parcel of the sport and that handling such adversity was of paramount importance.

“But you have to find ways to win, even if it means overhead kicks in 90+5. But the difference in emotion is so huge. It’s one minute (from) being dead and buried.”

The Golden Boy then reminisced how the Slovakian bench was seconds away from jubilantly entering the field for their celebrations and how his goal turned the dynamics around.

“I saw the Slovakian bench and they were all ready to run on. In one moment everything changes. But we never stopped believing we would get one more chance and luckily we got it in,” he said.