Jude Bellingham talks about England’s first goal he said he was happy to make his debut for the Three Lions in Monday’s 6-2 win over Iran.
The 19-year-old became only the second teenager in England’s history to score at a World Cup, after Michael Owen. He put the Three Lions ahead after heading in an excellent cross from Luke Shaw.
It was Bellingham’s tenth goal of the season for both his club and his country. After the game, he admitted that he wanted to score more goals this season.
“I told you I was saving [his first goal for England] for last! We had a really great day. I think it’s really impressive to score six goals in a World Cup game, no matter who you play “”BBC Sport,” he said.
“They turned out really well, were very strong, and hard to break down. For a while, we didn’t know what was going on. We made them bigger because we had more goals. The beginning was hard, and we had to work hard even when things didn’t go our way. We need to learn how to make chances against teams like this, but to be honest, the two goals were a disappointment.”
On his goal, Bellingham added: “I thought it had gone too far! It took forever to reach the goal. I wanted to try to get Dortmund and England more goals. To be in the right place, it was a great ball, and I was just there to flick it away. I was really happy about it.”
With three points in the bag, England now enters their next two games against Wales and the United States in a strong position to qualify for the knockout rounds.
“The manager basically said ‘enjoy the victories,’ because the attitude would have been extremely different if we hadn’t gotten that result,” Bellingham said. “But we have to prepare for the next game and recognise that it will be a new task.”
“When you win games, you’re at ease for a little bit longer and you know there’s a little bit less [pressure] off you for the next two, but we’ll still be at the same level and try to get two more wins because that’s how we want to carry our mentality into the rest of the tournament.”
