Jude Bellingham made the sad song his own in Gelsenkirchen. He internalized it and improved it in the spirit of Lennon and McCartney. He did not disappoint his audience, the half a million English fans who, according to the British Foreign Office, have traveled to Germany to follow their team, something that is practiced devoutly with or without a ticket, since what really concerns them is the double ritual: beer and the improvisation of lyrics adapted to religious or secular melodies from their popular culture. To Bellingham, as the Real Madrid fans do at the Bernabéu, they consecrated Hey Jude, by the Beatles. His goal against Serbia this Sunday (1-0) became the perfect excuse to transform the crowd into a sublime chorus and a match that otherwise would have been a cause for concern, into a cause for communion. The Veltins Arena echoed with the chorus, a handful of notes as famous as the prelude to the Well-Tempered Keyand Bellingham ran across the field displaying his antelope body and pointing at himself with his index finger, in case anyone doubted his importance.
“I listen to the Beatles a lot,” said the idol in the stadium conference room, about this version of Hey Jude which is already universally considered its official anthem. “My musical style is quite old,” she clarified. “I enjoy playing in front of the English fans and I really appreciate their show of affection.”
He is only 20 years old and has already perfectly defined his place, both in folklore and on the playing field. In Gareth Southgate’s England, a team that prefers to lie in wait in its own half rather than wait for the rival to advance, his role is that of playmaker. Against Serbia, neither Harry Kane nor Phil Foden, the most associative players in the squad, stood out, but Bellingham, whose identity card places him in the midfield, although he really acts as a delayed center forward, like Hidegkuti.
“Scoring for England is always special, especially if the goal you score wins a game,” he said. “I enjoy the moment. I don’t look to the future. I feel like I can have an impact and that I can decide every game.”
His header goal, from Saka’s cross, was a spark that demonstrated the decisive vocation that absorbs him. His effect on the final score was as conclusive as the goals he scored against Braga, Unión Berlin, Napoli, Celta, Getafe and Barça last season. After that Bellingham lost prominence and his team retreated until the game turned into a desert. Never, in the 323 Euro Cup final phase matches played since 1980, have there been fewer shots. Just 11, six against England and five against Serbia.
“With Serbia defending in a line of five it is difficult to create chances,” said Southgate, by way of justification. “You have to be patient. You have to show your quality at the exact moment. And in defense we behaved as a unit after running out of energy in the first half. But I think if we had been more efficient we would have scored one more goal.”
Harry Kane touched the ball once in the first 50 minutes. Bad sign when the captain is the Englishman with the best strategic vision, the man destined to amplify the possibilities of the collective game. His dragging movement of the centre-backs, in any case, helped Bellingham break into a poorly protected area at 1-0. “In the first half we showed that we can score goals in any situation and in the second we showed how to keep a clean sheet,” celebrated the scorer. “I see it with positivity. Maybe we had to hold back at times and suffer a little, but this team is so new, and it is coming together in every game, so yes, inside the locker room we are all happy.”
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