Harry Kane has not always enjoyed the faith of the English faithful. Though he has notched up countless goals, become the country’s captain and has served an entire decade as England’s #9, he is not seen as the player for the biggest stage. His inability to win a trophy at Tottenham Hotspur played into this perception, even though he has broken his trophy curse quite emphatically at Bayern Munich.
Jude Bellingham has had to contend with similar levels of critique from England fans. Amid being left
at home due to niggling injury concerns during the last October international break and manager Thomas Tuchel’s comments about his mother finding some of Bellingham’s behavior repulsive, there have been honest debates about whether the Real Madrid star should be left on the bench.
Both of these players have answered those critics in the best way possible, demonstrating their world class qualities and dragging England to victories. Kane scored both goals against DR Congo to save England from humiliation, then the duo combined to send co-hosts Mexico home before finally Bellingham scored both goals to send the 1966 World Cup winners through to the semifinals against Norway.
They may not have been able to pull England past Argentina in the semi finals, but, as Kane watched from the bench, Bellingham notched two goals to take his tally to 7 goals. Kane remained on 6, boosting his own tally to 14 goals in total and landing on 5th place on the all time World Cup goal scorers list.
The two will doubtlessly continue to be criticized as England travel home in shame, but their extraordinary exploits this World Cup deserve acknowledgement.
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