Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham have lauded England’s performance against Slovakia at Euro 2024, Soccernet.football reports.
Kane and Bellingham helped England pull off a dramatic 2-1 extra-time win over Slovakia in the knockout round to secure progress to the quarterfinals of the continental competition.
Ivan Schranz handed the Slovaks the lead in the 25th minute and they held on to that advantage until the closing stages of the encounter.
However, with only seconds left on the clock, Bellingham produced the equaliser with a stunning overhead kick to force the tie into extra-time. Moments into the first half of extra-time, Kane scored his second goal of Euro 2024 to fire the Three Lions into the quarterfinals.
After the final whistle, the former Tottenham talisman was full of praise for his younger compatriot.
“Jude Bellingham is of the best in our country’s history,” Kane said, as per the Guardian. “What a player he is. He works so hard. In the big moments, he steps up. He did that today.
“In this competition, you have to find a way to win. This team knows how to dig deep. We could have played better. But ultimately it’s a results business. Hopefully, we can take that momentum further.”
That fine equaliser was Bellingham’s first goal of the tournament and what a way to get it for England.
The 21-year-old midfielder won La Liga and the Champions League title with Real Madrid in his first season in Spain but he insists scoring to keep England at the Euros is one of his career’s finest moments.
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“In general I thought it was a good performance. The main thing though was that we showed character. You don’t experience things like that if don’t go 1-0 down,” Bellingham said.
“Playing for England should be one of the most proud things of a footballer’s career. Often it’s quite difficult. There’s a lot of pressure. You don’t have to take it personally. Sometimes it feels like there’s a bit of a pile-on.
“It’s hard to deny that it’s one of the most important moments of my career so far. We were 20 or 30 seconds from going out of the European Championship.”
England will next face Switzerland, who eliminated defending champions Italy, on Saturday for a chance in the semifinal.
