It was a goal which felt instantly iconic, destined to be replayed for decades to come, particularly if England continue to progress at Euro 2024.
As fans braced for the end, preparing to rage against Gareth Southgate one last time or else slink away quietly, pretending this debacle had never happened, Jude Bellingham arched into the air to meet Marc Guehi’s flick and spare his country an historic embarrassment.
Bellingham’s acrobatic finish will take its place among the great England goals at major tournaments — David Platt at Italia 90, Paul Gascoigne at Euro 96, Michael Owen against Argentina in 1998, perhaps even Bobby Charlton’s strike against Mexico in 1966 — if England can, somehow, go on to win the Euros.
Why bother with a game-plan or a coherent structure when your boy-wonder can score with a 95th-minute bicycle kick?
The question for England now is whether Bellingham’s divine intervention can prove a catalyst for change and spark a turgid campaign into life?
Southgate was asked, presciently, on the eve of the game whether England needed a goal like Gazza’s against Scotland in 1996 to change his side’s course? The manager played down the prospect of one moment altering England’s destiny but, as he begins to prepare for Saturday’s quarter-final against Switzerland, he may now be inclined to think differently.
UNBELIEVABLE 🤩
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 30, 2024
Jude Bellingham pulls out an overhead kick to save England in the dying moments 🏴#EURO2024 | #ENGSVK pic.twitter.com/px4qLzJQoq
Moments of brilliance can galvanise teams and players, and Bellingham’s goal has the potential to shake England from their stupor.
It changed the course of last night’s last-16 tie, leaving Slovakia out on their feet, and Harry Kane followed up with the winner in the first minute of extra-time.
There is also now the possibility that Bellingham, who turned 21 on Saturday, could drag this abject England side through the rounds, as Lionel Messi dragged Argentina through the last World Cup.
There is no doubting England need galvanising, and the richness of Bellingham’s finish must not distract from the poverty of their performance. For 94 minutes, England were as bad as in any major tournament humiliation over the last two decades — unbalanced, fearful, pedestrian.
Were it not for Bellingham, this would have been another Iceland, only worse, given the quality at Southgate’s disposal.
It would have been a sad way for the manager to bow out: his side humiliated; supporters mutinous; eight years of hard work brutally unpicked in one tournament.
After Ivan Schranz deservedly poked Slovakia in front, England’s attacking threat consisted of floaty back-post crosses which were bread and butter for a towering defence. The players were most animated when gesticulating frustratedly at one another over the lack of passing lanes.
Phil Foden had an equaliser correctly disallowed for offside and Declan Rice struck the post in a late rally, but Bellingham’s effort was England’s first effort on target; Kane’s headed winner their second. Southgate’s England can claim to be efficient, if nothing else.
Remarkably, the manager looked at his side’s three performances in the group stage and decided England did not need significant surgery. The only change he was willing to make again was to the troublesome second spot in midfield, filled by Kobbie Mainoo.
“England should be capable of managing a game against Slovakia, a nation ranked 45th in the world.”
The Manchester United teenager was bright — suggesting Southgate might, third time lucky, have stumbled on a solution — but a midfield of Mainoo and Rice left space for Slovakia, who twice went close to taking the lead before Schranz got the wrong side of Guehi.
Perhaps this is the trade-off: more midfield dynamism for less security, but England should not be needing to make such damaging compromises.
Southgate has the players at his disposal to build a functioning team which should be, at least, the sum of its magnificent parts. Yes, they lack a player like Toni Kroos or Rodri, but England should be capable of managing a game against Slovakia, a nation ranked 45th in the world.
It now feels obvious that for all his options and all the outside noise, the England boss is unlikely to deviate from his preferred XI, while his reluctance to use the bench was notable last night even by his own history of hesitancy.
You can probably forget about Luke Shaw, an unused substitute again, playing any meaningful role here to balance out a lopsided team, or Anthony Gordon starting on the left wing.
Working backwards from the result, Southgate was vindicated in sticking with Bellingham and Kane, both clearly exhausted, and his subs made a difference. Cole Palmer, England’s first change shortly after the hour, was lively, while Ivan Toney’s introduction in the 94th minute may have sowed enough panic in the Slovakia box to make space for Bellingham. Toney then met a sliced cross from Eberechi Eze, another sub, to cannily head into Kane’s path.
Really, however, it was hard to escape the feeling that England found a way last night in spite of Southgate’s inherent caution, and if Bellingham’s goal is to prove the turning point, the manager must do his own bit to shake some life into this team.
