Jude Bellingham’s Tuesday injury-time equalizer at Wembley against Belgium was only the most recent high point in a brief but dazzling career.
The 20-year-old will be essential to the Three Lions’ aspirations of winning an international trophy for the first time in 58 years at Euro 2024. Since joining Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid in the summer, he has scored about 20 goals and supplied nine assists.
Sometimes it still amazes Bellingham how easily he’s become a world-class player.
“I wake up and I have to pinch myself, when I’m playing for England at Wembley or playing at the Bernabeu for Real Madrid,” he told Sky News. “It’s something that I could never dreamed of happening this early, but grateful to everyone who’s played a part in my journey.”
However, he went on, saying that he wished to use trophies to cap off his season.
The midfielder said: “Being able to give my country and my team, Real Madrid, great experiences and great memories of lifting trophies.
“It’s been really, really tough, but really fun, adapting to life in Spain and kind of having more responsibility with the Madrid team and with the national team.
“I’m kind of just trying to soak it all in and enjoy the experience and yeah, hopefully, improve and thrive on the back of it.”
Naturally, a young man with such high expectations has a lot on his shoulders. Bellingham has acknowledged that his football “role model,” Jordan Henderson, has assisted him in balancing that burden.
He said: “I speak a lot with Jordan Henderson.
“He tells me to feel lucky to be able to play in this England team. He is like a role model to me so I try to listen to him a lot.
“When I joined England, he helped me to control the expectations people had of me.”
