Gary Lineker has heaped praise on Jude Bellingham after spotting what the Real Madrid No.5 did before England 2-2 Belgium on Tuesday.
Two goals from Youri Tielemans looked set to hand Belgium a 2-1 victory at Wembley before the 20-year-old popped up with a 95th minute equaliser.
Remarkably, it was the Stourbridge-born superstar’s 22nd goal in what has been a special campaign for both club and country.
However, there was one thing Jude Bellingham did long before his late equaliser which caught the eye of Gary Lineker…
What Jude Bellingham did before England 2-2 Belgium to impress Gary Lineker
Well, cameras captured the England international wrapping a mascot up in his training jacket after asking the child if he was cold.
After seeing footage of this moment, Lineker called Bellingham a “diamond” on social media.
It was a lovely act from the midfield maestro – although we aren’t quite sure exactly why the Football Association (FA) sent mascots out in the pouring rain without a jacket in the first place.
Nevertheless, it just goes to show how good a person Bellingham is – as well as being a truly exceptional footballer.
How Real Madrid No.5 performed at Wembley
It is truly baffling to think that Bellingham is only 20 years of age.
Just the way the £88.5m man puffed out his chest in the aforementioned video ahead of kick-off evoked the look of an experienced 30-year-old veteran, and he plays the game in such a mature manner too.
As shown by SofaScore, no England player registered a higher match rating than Bellingham’s 8.1 ranking.
The Birmingham City academy graduate took 103 touches of the ball and impressively won nine out of 11 ground duels, also winning four freekicks while recording one key pass.
It wasn’t even a vintage performance from Bellingham, although his levels are so high right now that even a fairly average display – by his lofty standards – gets people talking.
With an elite talent like this in our ranks, we have as good a chance as any nation does of winning UEFA EURO 2024 this summer.
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