England midfielder Jude Bellingham has concluded that the backroom staff have “delivered well” for a challenging Euro 2024 opener against Serbia on Sunday night.
The Three Lions came away with a narrow victory thanks to a header by Bellingham in the 13th minute. They won the first half but were unable to add to that, before Serbia looked strong after the break and made life easy for Gareth Southgate's side.
England found themselves pushing deeper as the game went on, and ended up waiting to win, but Bellingham insists the players expected what came to them.
“I was thinking [Serbia] they are the hardest part. We are very strong, strong and a big group of boys and it was important that we prepared well,” said the Real Madrid star BBC Sport.
“The staff got it right,” he added. “We prepared well all week. We knew the role we had to play. We try to maintain our level and try to do our job. It's important that we start well. We live well inside the camp and move on. The next one.”
Bellingham scored 23 goals in all competitions for Madrid during the 2023/24 campaign, finishing as the second top scorer behind former Ballon d'Or winner Vinicius Junior. In comparison, he had only found the net three times in 29 games for England before Sunday.
“I'm used to entering the box, I open my eyes and try that,” explained the player, after it became clear that Bellingham, who scored goals, had arrived in England.
“I got into that routine at Madrid and I wanted to carry my form to the Euros. It's a good start for me personally to boost confidence and help the boys to get the win is the most important thing.”
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