Stourbridge's Jude Bellingham tells England players to ignore outside sniping
Jude Bellingham has told his England team-mates to forget about any negative supporters as he praised the fans who dragged him over the line against Slovenia despite being “absolutely dead” on his feet.
Despite drawing widespread criticism for their performances at Euro 2024, England topped Group C and avoided what appears to be the much tougher half of the draw for the knockout stages.
A goalless stalemate with Slovenia in Cologne was the continuation of England’s struggles in Germany, where they have also so far drawn 1-1 with Denmark and beat Serbia 1-0 courtesy of a Bellingham header.
Fans booed England off following a dour display against the Danes and followed suit after the Slovenia result, with beer cups thrown in the direction of manager Gareth Southgate, who has since called on any of the fans’ ire to be aimed at him rather than his players.
Stourbridge-born Bellingham, though, has spoken about the positive impact that the fans inside the RheinEnergieStadion had on him and wants to reward them with better performances moving forward.
“I think you definitely draw on them for energy towards the end of games,” he said. “I felt like in the last game, I was absolutely dead but you hear them singing, hear them chanting and you can play at a level that’s not our best, it’s normal, it can happen.
“But I think the important thing is, when you’re wearing this badge and you’re representing those fans, is that you don’t give up and I think that they’re a constant reminder of that.
“I think it’s always interesting. I know there’s a lot of negativity outside the stadium and the camp but I always feel that when we get into the stadium, it’s so different. I think it’s important that as team-mates and as a team, we remember that the ones in the stadium are the ones that are going to give us the energy so don’t worry about the ones that aren’t there.
“We’ve obviously got to keep using that energy, using that feeling that we get from them, to be successful in this tournament.”
Bellingham insists England will not be writing off their last-16 clash with Slovakia as an “easy game”.
Spain, Germany, Portugal, France and Belgium are all on the other side of the draw, meaning England will avoid that quintet until a potential final in Berlin on July 14.
Instead, Southgate’s side return to Gelsenkirchen on Sunday evening to face Slovakia, who advanced as one of the best third-placed teams from the group stage.
Victory would see England progress to a quarter-final against either Italy or Switzerland but, for now, Bellingham says the squad will not take the challenge of Slovakia lightly.
“You’re always going to have tough games at this point of the tournament,” he said on Lions’ Den.
“People will obviously look at Slovakia and think it’s going to be an easy game, it’s definitely not the case.
“They’ll pose a different kind of threat, it’s a different kind of team to break down.
“Sometimes when you play the nations that come at you a bit more, it’s more open. It’ll be an interesting game, it’s one that we’re confident we have enough in the room to win.
“I know the performances haven’t been as good as they can be in the first three games but it’s a great opportunity for us to get back to the level we need to be at.”
