Former Birmingham City midfielder Jude Bellingham has confessed to playing with a 'chip on his shoulder' during England's commanding 4-2 victory over Croatia in the World Cup.
With speculation rife before the game surrounding his place in the starting line-up, the Real Madrid midfielder delivered one of the standout performances for the Three Lions in an impressive second-half showing in Dallas.
Bellingham netted England's third goal of the match, as Thomas Tuchel's side overwhelmed their European opponents in the second 45 minutes. The German manager revealed the Real Madrid player wasn't guaranteed a starting berth going into the fixture, with the impressive Morgan Rogers his main rival for the position.
Nevertheless, it was Bellingham who got the nod to start against Croatia, and he justified his manager's decision. Discussing Bellingham's performance after the match, Tuchel said: "A very good player, he deserved to start, and that's what he needs to do to fight for his place."
Speaking to BBC Sport, Bellingham said: "Yeah, for me personally it was nice to put some of the noise aside and just show my country and my teammates how committed I am to helping us try and win football matches. I think it was a great team performance second half.
"First half, we still got the intensity right, but with the ball, we weren't quite there. Second half I think we put it all together nicely, and again, to contribute and help my team, help my country, it's one of the biggest honours.
"Regardless of the noise outside, that honour doesn't change for me."
Bellingham shone brightly amid an ongoing debate surrounding who deserves the number ten shirt between himself and Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers. Both Tuchel and Jordan Henderson had publicly backed the Real Madrid star in the lead-up to the match, highlighting his 'X-Factor' ability to win games.
Reflecting on his goal and those glowing remarks, Bellingham said: "It was a good pass from Elliot [Anderson]. It put me in a good position and took it into the box. It was pretty normal goal except the pass was top level.
"I'm grateful to them for lifting me up in that position. Obviously, it's been a bit of a tougher season for me but I feel fresh, I feel sharp, strong and ready to give everything that I have. It's nice to hear those things."
On whether there was an extra drive pushing him on, Bellingham said: "A little bit, I think I have a little bit of a chip on the shoulder. I think that helps me a lot.
"To find that focus early in the game, to find that intensity. I know it's part of being a footballer, I don't hold a grudge against anyone who says bad things about me because sometimes I do deserve it.
"Today it was nice to remind people and show people what I'm about."
Bellingham then urged his Three Lions teammates to uphold the benchmark set during that commanding second-half performance. He said: "I was speaking to H [Harry Kane] after the game and said that's our standard now.
"That has to be the minimum. The second half, the intensity and what we do with the ball. That's got to be the bare minimum and we build from that.
"The first half you can accept that, you can write it off because at least we were still intense and we did a lot of the right things.
"There was a lot of lads making their World Cup debuts and it's a big stage. I think second half is what we're about."
