Gareth Southgate said star midfielder Jude Bellingham “writes his own script” after helping England make a winning start to Euro 2024 against Serbia.
The 20-year-old scored a brilliant header inside 13 minutes of their Group C opener as the road to Berlin got off to a dream start at a rocking Veltins Arena.
But what could have been a statement victory instead turned into a slog against physical Serbia, who pushed England hard but could not find a leveller as Sunday’s clash ended 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen.
“Look, this team is still coming together,” manager Southgate said. “Everybody is expecting us to waltz through but there is a lot of hard work ahead.
“We’re short of certain things, we’re finding best possible solutions.
“We’ve had a very complicated run-in to all of this, but the spirit of the group was there for everybody to see tonight and we’ll definitely grow from that.”
Bellingham epitomised the spirit and skill England will need to go deep in the tournament, with Southgate full of praise for the matchwinner.
“He writes his own script,” he told the BBC. “The timing of his runs. It was a super bit of play in the build-up of his play. I think all of our forward players looked really good.
“I am confident we will score goals. Playing against a back five, it is not easy to create chances and we did.
“I liked the fact we had to suffer without the ball because that is an area we have worked on a lot this week. We were obviously much better than last week at doing that.”
Bellingham was the standout performer on a night when Southgate went for converted right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold as part of his midfield three along with Declan Rice.
“I was really pleased,” he said. “Of course, Jude has such a prominent role, but he goes forward a lot and Trent had to cover a lot of spaces. That is not a role he’s done very often at all.
“I thought he showed great discipline. He showed some moments of that fabulous passing range that he has, the shot on goal as well.
“We’re obviously learning with him in this role, but I thought he showed some of the attributes that he can bring.
“Whatever we do in there, we’re going to be playing a young player or an inexperienced player, so it was great to see him come through that test.”
While England prepare to face Euro 2020 semi-final opponents Denmark in Frankfurt on Thursday, defeated Serbia will look to bounce back against Slovenia.
Head coach Dragan Stojkovic said: “It was a very good match, high quality from both teams.
“England are a very good, strong team, but we played a very brave game, the style of football we were aiming to play.
“With the changes, we managed to get where we wanted – with control of the ball and to make England defend.
“I’m proud of what we did, we didn’t deserve to lose but we’re going to keep going on.”
Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership tab...
Mark Hughes heaped praise on goalkeeper Gabe Breeze after Carlisle picked up a vital point in the League Two relegation battle with a goalless draw against in-form Colchester at Brunton Park.Breeze made two excellent saves from Lyle Taylor as the Cumbrians ended a four-game losing run and the former Man City boss was astounded by the 21-year-old’s performance.He said: “The game had som...
Chesterfield boss Paul Cook launched a scathing attack on his play-off hopefuls after they surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Sky Bet League Two table-toppers Walsall.The Spireites enjoyed a rapid start when Jamie Grimes’ eighth-minute header put them ahead against a wobbling Walsall side, who were winless in five matches with the chasing pack closing in.However, Bim Pepple and Dylan D...
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and was immediately substituted.Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to ...
Rotherham manager Steve Evans described Thomas Parsons’ performance as “atrocious” after the referee awarded a stoppage-time penalty from which Reading snatched a 2-1 victory in League One.Reading had led 1-0 at half-time through top scorer Harvey Knibbs but Sam Nombe levelled for Rotherham from a spot-kick in the 57th minute.With the game heading for a draw, Parsons adjudged Mil...
Michael Flynn believes his team can make a charge towards the League Two play-offs places after watching them come from 2-0 down to beat Barrow 3-2 at home.Matty Taylor scored twice before fellow substitute Ashley Hay hit the winner as the Robins continued their perfect home record in 2025.Cheltenham climbed to 13th in the table and sit eight points off seventh-placed Crewe with two games in hand....
Birmingham manager Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s work ethic after he lit up St Andrew’s with the only goal of a 1-0 win to sink play-off chasing Charlton.Stansfield’s 23rd-minute strike stretched City’s lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe, with Blues boasting a game in hand.Victory was City’s 30th in all competitions as they extended their unbea...
Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at...
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.The Un...
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Jota has a chance of starting against Bayern Munich after scoring and impressing in a 3-0 victory over Dundee United.Jota earned the club’s man-of-the-match award after cutting in from the left and curling home from 18 yards to double the lead given to the hosts by another impressive finish from Callum McGregor.The Portuguese winger has now started two gam...
