Jude Bellingham has revealed he was so excited after his World Cup debut that he could not sleep.
Bellingham was the star of the show in England’s glorious win over Iran as the Borussia Dortmund midfielder announced himself on the big stage. But Bellingham also insisted that he needs to get his feet back on the ground ready to face the United States on Friday.
England star Bellingham, 19, talking on the FA’s Lions’ Den show with M&S Food, said: “It is difficult to sleep, I was up all night trying to reply to messages and speak to people about the game.
“It was a really nice day for us but there is a level of professionalism when it comes to being ready the next day, recovering and just making sure we’re good to go again on Friday because in the World Cup you don’t get given a trophy for winning one game, you need to maintain it over the course of seven games.”
Bellingham also scored his first goal for England and added: “I can’t stop smiling. I’ve scored quite a few goals this season, in some pretty big games, but that tops anything that I have ever scored. That feeling thinking, have I really just done that? … I was thinking this can’t be real.”
Bukayo Saka has felt the “warmth from the fans” as he becomes a World Cup star. Arsenal starlet Saka, 21, suffered racist abuse after missing a penalty in last year’s Euros shoot-out but has since gone on to become England’s Player of the Year.
England boss Gareth Southgate said: “I've had a couple of long chats with him early in the season. He's had great support as well from Mikel and everybody at Arsenal, I think he's felt that from us as well. And of course he was England player of the year last year, so I think the most important thing he felt was the warmth from the fans.
"I was at Brentford the opening day of last season, where that was really heartwarming to see, the response he got, and that would have helped him to put things into perspective.”
Southgate admitted he finished England’s thumping win over Iran in a bad mood. England’s impressive victory lifted the nation but Southgate was unhappy at conceding two late goals and says they will have to tighten up against the United States.
Three Lions boss Southgate said: “The last two minutes changed my mood. But I was really pleased with the way we played, the threat we had.
“The only thing I'm unhappy with are the two goals we conceded. The game sort of petered out, I didn't like that, the job's done, and there's so much added time, we'll have to reset because the game against the States will be 100 mile an hour, and we'll have to be on it from the get-go. I don't like games that peter out that way but, in general, of course we're happy.”
