Jordan Pickford explains what makes Jude Bellingham special as England reach World Cup semis
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford spoke after breaking a World Cup record and helping England to a 2-1 comeback win over Norway
Having broken a World Cup record himself, Everton’s Jordan Pickford has lifted the lid on the secret to Jude Bellingham’s success after the Real Madrid ace netted both England’s goals in their 2-1 comeback win over Norway.
On a night in which he also won his 90th cap for the Three Lions – all of which have come while with the Blues, smashing the previous best by Phil Jagielka of 40 – Pickford overtook fellow goalkeeper Peter Shilton to play his 18th game in a World Cup finals, the most for an England player.
He and his team-mates had to overcome adversity though in their quarter-final against Norway in Miami as the Hill Dickinson Stadium fans’ favourite was caught out by a fluke goal by Andreas Schjelderup whose mishit cross flew into the roof of the net off the post in the 36th minute.
However, Bellingham restored parity two minutes into first half stoppage time, when picked out by Anthony Gordon’s pass, the midfielder drove forward in the Norwegian area and beat Orjan Nyland with a left-foot finish. The Scandinavians then had a second goal by Torbjorn Heggem ruled out when referee Clement Turpin was invited to consult the pitchside monitor by VAR after Erling Haaland had shoved Elliot Anderson in the build-up and the contest went into extra time.
Three minutes into the additional period – in energy-sapping conditions as the game was played in 35-degree Florida heat with intense humidity – Bellingham struck the winner, reacting first to the rebound and hooking in a right-foot shot after Nyland could only parry a long-range effort from substitute Morgan Rogers.
Speaking in a passionate pitchside interview with ITV’s Gabriel Clarke shortly after the final whistle, England manager Thomas Tuchel admitted that his team were “got lucky” and “there are a lot of things to do better,” after what he described as a “sloppy” display with “a lot of technical mistakes.”
However, the German attributed progress through to a last-four pairing against Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday as down to “pure mentality,” and Pickford concurred. Speaking in the mixed zone after the game, the Everton man said: “We’ve got that togetherness, that team spirit, that commitment.
“We drive ourselves. We never say never.
“The manager wants us to improve going forward — and yeah, we definitely want that ourselves — but when the going gets tough, we’re resilient and we dig in as a team.”
When it came to match-winner Bellingham, who has now scored six goals in the current tournament to match captain Harry Kane, Pickford added: “His mentality is what puts him on that level. He has been top level, and long may it continue.”
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