England midfielder Jude Bellingham admitted it feels special to score for his country as the Three Lions opened their Euro 2024 account with a 1-0 win over Serbia.
It was not a vintage team performance from Gareth Southgate’s men, but Bellingham put in an individual masterclass in the first half that included scoring the only goal of the match.
The Real Madrid star got in front of his man and powered home a Bukayo Saka cross to give England the lead, pulling out his iconic celebration as well.
It was the most exciting moment of the match, with Serbia battling back and making things hard for the 2020 finalists across the rest of the match.
But Bellingham was happy with the performance and says the three points is the most important thing.
The Player of the Match said: “The first half shows why we can score goals against any team, and the second half shows we can keep a clean sheet against any team.
“We had to suffer a bit but we kept a clean sheet and when you do that, you only need to score one goal to win the game.
😝#EURO2024 | #SRBENG pic.twitter.com/3YYJdykIvw
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 16, 2024
“Overall, we’ll be happy with that performance.
“It’s really special to score any time for England, especially one that gives us a win and three points – and hopefully sets us up for a good performance.
“The celebration is from a game we played called Wolf, but it’s really for the backroom staff – they don’t get any awards like this but we really appreciate them.
“I just enjoy playing football.
“I take each one as a separate game instead of looking too far into the future.
“I feel like I can make a difference in any game. I play with a fearlessness because it’s what I love to do. It’s not a job, it feels like a pleasure.”
