Former England striker Gary Lineker believes Jude Bellingham is vital to the fortunes of Gareth Southgate ’s side at Euro 2024 - while Roy Keane also heaped praise on the Real Madrid star.
Bellingham heads into the Euros as a LaLiga and Champions League winner, having starred since arriving at the Spanish giants last summer. Lineker is excited to see how the midfielder performs and sees a bright longer-term future for the team, while he also admitted he would be “absolutely shocked” if they do not win a major tournament in the next decade.
“Jude is one of the best players in the world right now now and he is still only 20,” Lineker said of Bellingham.
“He is incredible. He has bossed Real Madrid and has been their leader this season. He is going to be very important to Gareth and England in the summer. If he shines England will shine.
“I think England are quite rightly the favourites this time around. We often are but probably not deserving to but with this crop of young players I am very confident we will win something.
Jurgen Klopp wants double Liverpool transfer deal after fiery 'monopoly' dig“Whether it is this tournament – it could be because we will have every chance – but I think we will be very competitive in the the next four or five tournaments. I’ll be absolutely shocked if we don’t win at least one of them with this crop of players.”
Keane, who will be an ITV pundit at the Euros this summer, also heaped praise on Bellingham, as well as his England team-mates Harry Kane and Phil Foden. The former Manchester United midfielder has tipped the Three Lions to battle France for the trophy and said: "There's always expectations around England, they'll be thinking, can their main guys turn up, Bellingham, Foden, Kane?
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"The season these lads are having, if you're in England's camp you'd think you must have a great chance. With Germany, the first game against Scotland is in Berlin and in any tournament we've ever covered, the home team does well - it definitely brings a different energy to the competition.
"But I've always enjoyed watching teams like France and Spain, obviously Spain always turn up, I know there's doubts about scoring enough goals and having that real nastiness, I suppose. But I love watching Spain, just with their domination of possession. Have they got that extra bit to get over the line? That's the million dollar question. And I always enjoy watching Portugal, I always think Portugal bring an attacking way of playing but I think at the back might be a problem for them."
On Saturday, Bellingham celebrated the “best night of my life” after winning the Champions League at Wembley with a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund.
The 20-year-old has been a revelation in his first season after leaving Dortmund in the summer and while he did not influence the final as much as he would have liked, it mattered little after goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior.
“I’ve always dreamed of playing in these games,” Bellingham told TNT Sports. “You go through life and there are so many people who say you can’t do things and days like today remind you why.
“It gets hard at times and you wonder whether it’s worth it but nights like tonight make you realise. I was all right until I saw my mum and dad’s face. I can’t put it into words. The best night of my life.
“I think it has to be up there as the perfect season. We missed out on the Copa del Rey, which is the disappointment, but I couldn’t have dreamed of a better season than this. I just can’t believe it.”
Top baby name predictions for 2023 revealed including footballers and TV starsWalkers ambassador Gary Lineker was speaking after revealing the winners of the No Walkers, No Game competition at the Champions League final
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