England off to a head start

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany — Jude Bellingham is the face of Kim Kardashian's male underwear range, England icon David Beckham mimics his trademark goal celebration, and a Beatles classic has become his anthem as adoring fans serenade him with "Hey Jude "when he's on the field.

Bellingham, it seems, can do no wrong.

No surprise, then, that he was the player to get England off to a winning start at the European Championship with a first-half goal that proved to be the difference between Serbia and England in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.

"Every game I feel like I can make an impact, I feel like I can decide games," the Real Madrid star said. "I really enjoy playing football, so, when I go out there, I play with a fearlessness, because I love doing it so much. It is a release for me."

Wearing the No 10 jersey that once adorned Wayne Rooney, the midfielder stooped to head in Bukayo Saka's cross in the 13th minute. Bellingham raced away, arms outstretched in a pose Madrid fans have grown to love, and that Beckham has replicated on social media in tribute to a player who doesn't turn 21 until later this month.

Bellingham has already done his talking on the field after a spectacular debut season at Madrid, where he scored 23 goals, won the Spanish title and the Champions League.

He is also making a splash off it.

Like Beckham, his appeal goes far beyond soccer. Presumably that was what Kardashian saw when she chose Bellingham to front the men's range of her SKIMS underwear. He's also the star of an advertising campaign for sportswear giant Adidas, which also features Beckham, who is just another of Bellingham's many fans.

So much, so soon for someone so young could be seen as a cause for concern. But, Bellingham is not your average player.

"He writes his own script," England manager Gareth Southgate said.

Bellingham's goal was enough to send England to the top of Group C after Denmark drew 1-1 with Slovenia in an earlier game, with Christian Eriksen scoring the Danes' goal. It's a far happier start to the competition than three years ago, when he suffered a cardiac arrest on the field at the pandemic-delayed Euro 2020.

Harry Kane so nearly extended England's lead in the second half, when Serbia goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic pushed his far post header onto the underside of the bar.

England plays Denmark in Frankfurt on Thursday.

England was a finalist at the last Euros, losing on penalties to Italy at Wembley. It is one of the favorites to win the whole thing this time around. Serbia is playing in the Euros for the first time since 2000.

The buildup to the game had been overshadowed by concerns about violence between rival supporters. And some of those fears were realized when police rushed to separate brawling fans in Gelsenkirchen earlier in the day.

Social media footage showed fans throwing chairs and bottles at each other outside a restaurant festooned with Serbian flags in the city center.

However, it was the England fans who were celebrating once the game got underway, after Bellingham produced his decisive moment.

And he's quite happy with the choice of song that supporters have attached to him.

"I listen to the Beatles a lot. My style of music is a bit old, so that is right up my street," he said.

Good for team spirit

England's rearguard effort in a nervy second half, as it held on to its slender lead to beat Serbia, will hold the team in good stead as it looks to go deep into the tournament, coach Southgate said.

"I'm pleased that we had to show a different side, we had to show that resilience to defend our box, because I think, as a group, that really builds a huge spirit," Southgate said.

He added: "Our team ran out of some energy, and that didn't surprise me, because of the lack of 90 minutes that a lot of the players have had. I think we can be more efficient than in the way that we played in the first half, which will also help us."

Southgate said England was still a side in transition, with several inexperienced players in the squad and missing stalwarts like centerback Harry Maguire, who is injured, and midfielder Jordan Henderson, who was left out of the Euros squad.

"This team is still coming together," he said. "Everybody's expecting us to waltz through, but there's a lot of hard work ahead.

"We're short of certain things, we're finding the best possible solutions. We've had a very complicated run-in to all of this, but the spirit of the group was there for everybody to see tonight, and we will definitely grow from that."

Man of the match Bellingham took issue with the suggestion that England's second-half performance showed a need for improvement, saying the players would take the positives from the game.

"Obviously, commonly with the team there's a negative theme around all our games — and sometimes rightly so — but, I think in this case you take the positives," he said. "OK, maybe we had to hold on at times and suffer a little bit, but we kept a clean sheet, and when you do that, all you have to do is to score one goal."

In Hamburg, Dutch fans were also partying, and turned the city into a sea of orange. The Netherlands secured a come-from-behind 2-1 win against Poland in Group D thanks to Wout Weghorst's late goal.

Agencies