England are through to the semi-finals of the World Cup – thanks to two brilliant goals from Jude Bellingham. The midfielder came to England’s rescue, first with an equaliser just before half-time, and then the crucial winner in the first period of extra time. Twelve of the 13 England goals in this tournament have come from Bellingham and Kane, superstars who continue to deliver for the team when it matters most. And, boy, did England need Bellingham. It was a disjointed display from the England team but the players stuck to the task, showing great spirit.
Who cares how they did it? The dream of winning a major tournament is alive and well
It wasn’t pretty but they played their hearts out and didn’t give up, doing what they had to do to get over the line. Knockout football is about winning, and that’s all that matters in the end. It is the World Cup semis next, leaving England just 90 minutes away from their first World Cup final in 60 years. That’s not to be sniffed at. Who cares how they did it? The dream of winning a major tournament is alive and well. The England manager Thomas Tuchel, in his TV interview after the match said that England ‘got lucky’ and the team needed to ‘get better’. Tuchel shows a winner’s demand for perfection that was absent in the Southgate years.
England certainly don’t make it easy for themselves or the countless millions watching at home. In their defence, the match took place in the stifling heat and humidity of Miami. It cannot be easy, even for supremely fit athletes, to play at such intensity in temperatures estimated to be as high as 42C pitch side.
England dominated the game for the opening 25 minutes but created hardly anything of note. Norway looked there for the taking but England just couldn’t find a way through. It was Norway who took the surprise lead after 35 minutes in their first major attack of the game. Andreas Schjelderup scored from what looked like a cross aimed at the back post for Haaland. Did he mean it? Only Schjelderup can really know. The England goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford, should have done better: he seemed as surprised as everyone else in the stadium that the ball ended up in the net. The momentum of the game changed and Norway looked on the up. The Norwegians had a big chance in a counterattack at 44 minutes with Sorloth and Haaland two on one against Stones. Sorloth didn’t make the pass to Haalamd and the opportunity went begging. Minutes later, everything changed. England were level at 1-1, thanks to a wonder goal by Jude Bellingham just before half-time. A pass from Anthony Gordon, two sublime touches from Bellingham, and the ball was in the net.
England should have had their tails up in the second half. Tuchel made two substitutions at the break: off came Rice and Madueke, replaced by Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze. Yet it was Norway who took the game by the scruff of the neck. They were the better team for large parts of the second half. They had a goal disallowed after a VAR check and also hit the bar with 15 minutes of normal time to go. As the minutes ticked by, the tension was unbearable. Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary Manchester United manager, had a phrase for matches of this magnitude when the pressure becomes overwhelming: ‘squeaky bum time. When the match went into extra time, it was hard to predict who might emerge victorious.
Then came the saviour Bellingham again, with another exquisite goal that proved to be the match winner. It is in moments like this that the great players make the difference on the biggest of stages. Bellingham delivered. He is turning into the player of this World Cup.
Spare a thought for Norway. They battled hard and were unlucky. It was their first ever quarter-final and they pushed England hard. Haaland looked disconsolate at the end.
This was England’s 11th World Cup quarter-final. This is always the tournament round where England come unstuck. They’ve progressed from it just three times until this match. That jinx is gone. In Tuchel, the players have an elite manager who has won all the big prizes in the game. Is he also a lucky manager? Maybe. He is certainly on the verge of something special. Each match tests the team in different ways but they are continuing to find a way through. There is a team spirit about the squad, and even when they don’t play well, they still expect to win. In the past when England went behind in a match, fans feared the worst; twice now in this tournament they have come back from behind to win a crucial game. Tuchel’s visible disappointment at the performance against Norway is telling. He demands everything from his players. That is the mentality of winners. Maybe this really is England’s time. We can but dream. Bring on the semi-final!
