When a 17-year-old Jude Bellingham left for Borussia Dortmund in 2020, Birmingham City retired his No. 22 shirt.
As people smirked, the English club said it was a recognition of the teenager’s “talent, hard work and dedication”.Six years down the line, it seems the English Football League (EFL) club’s assessment of their home boy wasn’t too far off the mark.A midfield general with immense potential, the beauty of the England star’s game is that he can fit into any role.
From putting in the crunching tackle near his team’s penalty area to arriving late in the opposition box to nudge home the header, Bellingham treated fans to the entire spectrum in England’s brilliant 3-2 win against Mexico at the Azteca with 10 men last week.Bellingham’s two goals were a product of his ability to be at the right place at the right time, a striker in the garb of a midfielder.
But what made the tireless workhorse stand out was his desire to cover every blade of grass of the historic stadium as his team fought to protect a fragile lead with 10 men against a home team that resembled a hungry pack of wolves.
The clearance that he put in late in the first half to stop Mexico from making it 2-2 was the moment of the day for Jude, if you take away from the equation for a moment the glamour of goal scoring.While England coach Thomas Tuchel had high praise for Bellingham’s work rate, it wasn’t too long ago that the Real Madrid midfielder wasn’t even the German’s No. 1 choice for the role in national colours.
