Pickford Expresses Gratitude to Bellingham for Preserving England’s Euros Reputation

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford expressed gratitude towards two exceptional players, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, for their pivotal roles in rescuing the Three Lions from a potentially embarrassing elimination in the last 16 of Euro 2024 against Slovakia.

Mr. Gareth Southgate’s team was trailing 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday when Mr. Bellingham produced a remarkable overhead kick to equalize in the 95^th minute.

Within the first minute of extra time, Mr. Kane successfully headed in his 65^th international goal, propelling England into a quarter-final encounter with Switzerland scheduled for Saturday.

“Two superstars, Jude and Harry come up with the goods,” on Monday, Pickford spoke with journalists at England’s training facility in Germany.

“Jude is the golden boy again with the overhead kick to keep us in the game, keep us in the tournament. We never say die and that’s what it was last night.”

Despite reaching the quarterfinals, England’s performances have been subject to substantial critique.

The team, which was widely regarded as the frontrunner to win the tournament, has displayed signs of exhaustion and a lack of innovative strategies in each of the four matches played thus far.

“(A) rollercoaster but we got over the line,” added Pickford on his emotions during the Slovakia match. “It doesn’t matter how you play, you’ve got to show resilience and win the match and that’s what we did.”

An enhanced performance will be essential against the Swiss team, who remain undefeated throughout the tournament and effortlessly defeated the reigning champions, Italy, with a score of 2-0 in their round of 16 match on Saturday.

Despite the fact that England has gone 58 years without winning a major tournament, Pickford pointed to Portugal’s unexpected victory at Euro 2016 as proof that England does not need to be flawless in order to achieve this goal.

“I think if you look at past tournaments, in 2016 Portugal drew all three group games and went onto win the tournament,” said the Everton goalkeeper.

“We’ve just got to keep fighting, keep believing and train hard going into a tough game on Saturday.”

Luke Shaw participated fully in training on Monday, potentially making him available for selection in the quarter-finals, according to Southgate.

The Manchester United left-back has been sidelined since February due to an injury and has not played for either club or country during that time.

The decision by Southgate to include him as the sole natural left-back in a 26-man squad has attracted significant criticism. Shaw may be compelled to take action promptly as Kieran Trippier was compelled to withdraw due to an injury sustained during the second half of the match against Slovakia.

July 01, 2024