Jude Bellingham is already demonstrating his functionality to step into the big void left by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
With these two superstars off to new territories, Bellingham has develop into one of many elite gamers in Europe alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Vinicius Jr.
On Tuesday, the 20-year-old England midfielder added one other aim to the 5 he has scored in 4 video games this season for Real Madrid. While the 3-1 win over Scotland was solely a pleasant, Bellingham has had an excellent begin to the season. He even arrange one other for Harry Kane on Tuesday in Glasgow.
“For a young man to have that kind of football brain, I love watching him,” mentioned former Liverpool nice Graeme Souness, now a TV commentator. “Jude Bellingham is the real deal.”
Bellingham joined Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in June for a price that would attain $139 million. His targets have helped make up for the lack of Karim Benzema, who was a part of the exodus of star gamers who headed for Saudi Arabia in current months.
At a time when Messi and Ronaldo have moved to the United States and Saudi Arabia, respectively, Bellingham is among the many group of gamers establishing themselves as the brand new technology of world icons.
Harry Maguire, nonetheless, appears to be entering into the wrong way.
Still the costliest defender within the historical past of the game after Manchester United paid 80 million kilos (then $97 million) for him in 2019, Maguire has reached a disaster level in his profession.
He has been dropped by Manchester United supervisor Erik ten Hag and stripped of the captaincy as his type has plummeted over the previous 12 months. Maguire was extensively anticipated to vary golf equipment throughout the current switch window, however an anticipated transfer to West Ham fell by means of, that means he seemingly faces one other season on the sidelines.
That is a priority for England coach Gareth Southgate, who has caught by the center-back all through his troubles and desires his gamers to be in common motion main as much as subsequent 12 months’s European Championship. On Tuesday, Maguire scored an own-goal in opposition to Scotland.
Maguire has develop into a determine of ridicule amongst some supporters, whereas Southgate can be sad concerning the remedy he has acquired in sections of the media. He was mocked by Scotland followers in an intense environment within the pleasant at Hampden Park as the 2 sides resumed the oldest rivalry in worldwide soccer, which dates again to 1872.
“From a Scotland fan’s point of view, I get it and I have absolutely no complaints with what they did,” Southgate mentioned. “It is a consequence of ridiculous remedy of him for an extended interval, frankly.
“I’ve never known a player treated the way he is – not by the Scottish fans, by our own commentators, pundits, whatever it is. They’ve created something that’s beyond anything I’ve ever seen.”
Despite the loss on Tuesday, Scotland is on a excessive after profitable its opening 5 video games in Euro 2024 qualifying. The Scots want solely two factors from their remaining three matches to safe a spot within the match in Germany.
Scotland will subsequent play Spain, which routed Georgia 7-1 and Cyprus 6-0. Teenager Lamine Yamal made historical past by changing into the youngest participant to attain in a European Championship qualifier at 16 years, 57 days in opposition to Georgia.
France, Portugal, Belgium and Austria are additionally getting ready to qualification.
Under coach Roberto Martinez, Portugal has made its finest begin to a European qualifying marketing campaign with a 100% document after six video games and recorded its biggest-ever win in a aggressive match in a 9-0 rout of Luxembourg.
Germany, in the meantime, can solely be grateful that it has automated entry to the match because the host nation. Hansi Flick was fired as coach after a 4-1 loss to Japan in a pleasant.
Flick was already below stress after the Germans have been eradicated within the group stage of final 12 months’s World Cup – the second straight time the four-time champions had gone out within the first spherical.
The loss to Japan prolonged a five-game winless streak and prompted jeers from the house crowd in Wolfsburg. But there was an instantaneous response to Flick’s departure as Germany beat World Cup finalist France 2-1 in one other pleasant on Tuesday.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
