Former England defender Rio Ferdinand was awe-struck by Jude Bellingham’s performance in their 6-2 trouncing of Iran in their 2022 FIFA World Cup opener today (November 21).
The Borussia Dortmund midfielder scored the first goal for the Three Lions in the 35th minute against Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium.
Bukayo Saka then scored a brace. Meanwhile, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, and Declan Rice each added a goal to give England an unassailable lead in their Group B opener. For Iran, Mehdi Taremi scored a brace, including a successful penalty in injury time.
Arsenal’s Saka won the Man of the Match award for his top performance.
However, many have hailed Bellingham as the best performer with many tricks on his sleeve. Ferdinand has been a great admirer of the English youth. He hailed Bellingham’s ‘ridiculous’ performance against Iran and is hopeful to see a lot from him in the tournament ahead.
Discussing England’s triumphant win over Iran, the former Manchester United defender said via Metro:
”The way that he conducts things at times…at times he’s on the edge of their box probing and sometimes he’s deep like this setting things up behind. A young player normally looks at his game thinking: “I need to add this and that” but at his age [Bellingham] he’s been playing the game a couple of years. It’s ridiculous.”
Ferdinand believes Bellingham is ahead of his age. He stated that the 19-year-old is showing the football skills of a player who has had a fair amount of international experience. He further added:
”You [normally] do that [develop more skills] at 23 or 24 years old when you’ve found out what you’re good at and what you’re not. You look at these clips and the thing is here; there’s nothing too similar. They’ve all got a different element to them. An element where you think; “That’s not the same as the last clip”.
Ferdinand also stated that he is confident that the Dortmund midfielder is a generational talent. He said:
”He’s a young player and it’s going to be really interesting to see what type of player he’ll end up being because he’s got so many strings to his bow.”
Bellingham has played 112 matches for Borussia Dortmund and 18 games for England already.
Youthful England’s dominant first win in Qatar announce their arrival as one of the top contenders for the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Gareth Southgate’s young English team thrashed their Asian opponents Iran 6-2 in their opening Group B encounter. They announced their arrival as one of the leading contenders for the 2022 FIFA World Cup title.
The Three Lions have some serious firepower in their team, especially on the attacking front. This includes Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, and Bukayo Saka.
The youngsters have been performing brilliantly for their respective clubs as well since the beginning of the 2022-23 season. They have got immense confidence to express themselves naturally in the national team’s setup.
England’s defensive setup also looks settled but Harry Maguire’s illness could be a reason to worry. Southgate will be hoping that the defender recovers before their next game against the USA on November 25.