England surrenders to Bellingham: teenage leader and son of a police sergeant who scored 700 goals

• Final phase Tournament draw

“You can have as much money or buy as many houses and cars as you want.

But what motivates me is making memories."

There is something about

(Stourbridge, England, June 29, 2003) that differentiates him from the new batch of teenage stars who grew up under the protection of luxury soccer academies and with no other vital references than that of agents and their promises of new rich.

Bellingham, the new English sensation, discovered as a child those seedy fields where there was much more tow than perfume.

And he did it to see some of the latest achievements of his father, police sergeant

, in amateur subsoccer.

Legend has it -because there are no official statistics on this, only paper and memory records- that that insatiable striker who hardened himself in the West Midlands police team and who went through teams such as Stourbridge, Halesowen, Bromsgrove, Leamington or Sutton Coldfield scored more than 700 goals, a figure that was already past forty.

He hung up his boots in 2017, when Jude, at the age of 14, was already beginning to glimpse a hopeful future in that Birmingham that launched him to stardom.

In July 2020, Borussia Dortmund made the biggest bet ever made by an English footballer of his age.

He was only 17 years old when Birmingham removed the number 22 from his shirt and when Dortmund paid close to 30 million euros for his signing, imitating the move made by

in 2017.

came to meet both him and with his family to convince him of the suitability of not emigrating and making the leap to Manchester United.

But Bellingham, aware of how beardless players grew at Borussia Dortmund, did not hesitate.

Maturity

«Jude has a great maturity for his age.

And that can be seen in the way he works, trains or even when he speaks", surrenders the English coach,

, who, after making him debut in the last Euro Cup, did not hesitate to give

Bellingham the handle of the

in this World Cup.

And the midfielder not only has not missed it, but has offered just the record that England missed so much since the withdrawal of

, the voracious arrival from the second line.

, meanwhile, prefers to compare the Dortmund midfielder with

, legendary England captain in the 1980s.

Bellingham, who in this World Cup has scored a goal (in the individual and collective exhibition against Iran), has added an assist, and has stolen more balls than anyone in his team in this World Cup (23), is used to records of precociousness: among others, he is the youngest player to play an official match in the history of Birmingham at 16 years and 38 days, surpassing

;

he is the youngest goalscorer in Dortmund history;

or he is the youngest Englishman to play in a final phase of a major tournament.

And the rumor mill about a sale next summer in exchange for amounts of more than 120 million euros also plans on his figure, Liverpool being one of the most interested teams despite the fact that Real Madrid was always found in the group of applicants.

In Al Khor, England will look to face the reigning champions, France, to reach the semifinals of a major tournament for the third time in a row.

She was already fourth in the 2018 World Cup and a finalist in the last Euro Cup.

And under the influence of youngsters like Bellingham,

and

, who display overwhelming attacking talent, the Southgate team has scored 12 goals in just four games (the same as the Portuguese team).

But he has also conceded only two goals, a record that the often suspicious

and

will have to continue defending from the center of the rear, a

once again illuminated in a great date, and, above all,

, who Southgate has tasked with stopping

.

It does not seem like a small thing for a confrontation with the aroma of history.

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