Bellingham shines for England in superb win

JUDE Bellingham received effusive praise for a “complete performance” as England began their World Cup campaign with a 6-2 hammering of Iran, writes Phil Casey.

Bellingham opened the scoring with his first England goal in the 35th minute and turned in a commanding display in midfield at just 19 years of age.

Former England striker Alan Shearer hailed a “really, really impressive” display from Gareth Southgate’s side and singled out Bellingham for special recognition.

“The young boy, can we call him that? He’s not really now, he’s a man isn’t he? Bellingham. Oh my word what a performance, incredible,” Shearer said on BBC1.

“It was a complete performance from a really exciting player. It was a special day for him and for England.”

Bellingham admitted he thought his glancing header from Luke Shaw’s cross was not going in before it nestled in the far corner.

“To be honest I thought it had missed and it took ages to loop into the goal,” the Borussia Dortmund midfielder said.

“I told you I wanted to score more goals for Dortmund and England. It was a brilliant ball from Shawy and I was just there to flick it away and it was a really proud moment for me.”

England face the United States in their second Group B game on Friday before taking on Wales on November 29 and Bellingham added: “Wins do (take pressure off), you’re at ease for a bit, but we’ll still be at the same level trying to perform and get two more wins because that’s how we want to be and carry that mentality into hopefully the rest of the tournament.”

Southgate was pleased with the win, but the England head coach admitted he was annoyed to concede two goals, with the second coming from the penalty spot in the last seconds. He said: “To win by that margin, to play as we did for the majority of the game, I’ve got to be really happy.”