ENGLAND supporters were saying Gareth Southgate unlocked a “cheat code” as a tactical tweak helped the Three Lions come back and destroy Italy.
Our boys secured their spot at Euro 2026 with two games to spare against the Azzurri at Wembley on Tuesday.
Italy took the lead through Gianluca Scamacca on 15 minutes but Harry Kane drew England level from the penalty just before half time.
However, the second half was a completely different story as the Three Lions stepped it up and ran out 3-1 winners thanks to brilliant strikes from Marcus Rashford and Kane.
But it was the 20-year-old Bellingham, who was fouled for the penalty and then provided the assist for Rashford, that stole the show.
The Real Madrid superstar was deployed as a number 10 last night behind Kane in attack – and once again he blew everybody away with his display.
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He was England’s Player of the Match, as he was on his previous outing for the national side against Scotland.
Amazingly, he has been Player of the Match NINE times in total this season, in just 13 games for club and country.
Bellingham has become one of the biggest stars in the world following his £115m move to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
And now he has fans dreaming of going all the way in Germany next summer after the midfielder’s performance in a more attacking role yesterday.
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One fan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Bellingham in the 10. Cheat code.”
“Bellingham has got Zidane vibes,” said a fellow admirer before adding: “Unbelievable talent.”
Another fan said: “Bellingham in the 10. The only way watching England is bearable.”
While another fan declared: “Bellingham is an 8, a 10 and a 9 all in one.”
Another also believes that Bellingham could be the man to line-up deeper alongside Declan Rice – although they admit it is a big call to make after his stunning performance.
They wrote: “Bellingham is an interesting dilemma – looks like an absolute baller in the no10 role, but the spot next to Rice is a weak point.
“So do you keep playing Phillips, or move Bellingham back and play Foden/Maddison instead. Think most would do the latter, Gareth definitely doing the former.”
Meanwhile, the man himself says he knows he must continue to produce the goods.
Bellingham, who has ten goals in ten games for Madrid, said: “With the big transfer the fact is I have to deliver, whether it is a goal or assist or a match-winning performance.
“This is the club I want to be at for the next 10-15 years of my life. I am loving it there.
“When you are around those mentalities and quality of players every day… it takes you to a new level mentally, physically and technically.”
England have made qualification look easy despite being drawn in their group with defending champions Italy, Ukraine, North Macedonia and minnows Malta.
They have recorded five wins and a draw out of their opening six but Southgate insists there is still a lot more his squad can bring to the table once the tournament gets underway.
He said afterwards: “We need to keep building. There is more to come from this team. This was the toughest qualifying group, with the seedings.
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“People have criticised us for not beating the top teams enough. But we have performed really well.
“We’ve had one of the toughest groups, you’ve seen over recent years some big nations not going to major tournaments, so to do it [qualify] with two games to spare just shows the path we are on.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
