Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has declared that the Three Lions can win the World Cup, while fellow past players and pundits took aim at Jude Bellingham’s doubters after England’s wild 3-2 victory against Mexico on Monday.
England will face Erling Haaland’s Norway in the quarter-finals, but first they will spend a few days celebrating this victory in the Old Dart.
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Pubs and living rooms erupted in the early hours of Monday morning as Bellingham’s brace, a Harry Kane penalty and a Jordan Pickford masterclass guided England to the final eight.
For most of the contest, England fans were in a state of panic with Jarell Quansah’s red card forcing them to hang on for dear life, a man down, for the better part of 45 minutes.
When VAR intervened to send off the Bayern Leverkusen defender it felt like history might be repeating itself for England.
RECKLESS England tackle results in red | 00:30
Their World Cup dreams were dashed at Mexico City’s iconic Estadio Azteca in 1970 and 1986.
First, their campaign was disrupted by World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore being arrested in the Colombian capital of Bogota before the tournament began as he was accused of stealing a diamond bracelet from a jewellery store.
Then goalkeeper Gordon Banks missed the quarter-final loss to West Germany with a mystery illness.
It led to theories that he was poisoned by the CIA as Brazil, who had been experiencing domestic issues under an American backed regime, went on to win the tournament.
Sixteen years later, Diego Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ sent England packing as Argentina won that quarter-final 2-1 before going on to win the tournament.
Millions of English were certainly thinking that Quansah’s studs up challenge might be the catalyst for a third disastrous act in their Mexican World Cup humiliation ritual.
But Thomas Tuchel’s side holding firm with all that history sitting on their backs, meant the Round of 16 clash will go down in English folklore for all the right reasons.
“What happened out there was one of the great England performances,” The Telegraph’s Sam Wallace wrote..
“At 7,350 feet with their lungs burning and their muscles aching, the 11 men of England and then the ten men of England beat a fervent football nation on their own patch.”
“England lived on the edge for what seemed like an age but this time England survived,” Wallace added.
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The legion of English journalists inside the 80,000 seat Azteca could hardly believe what they had witnessed across a contest that was delayed by an hour because of lightning in the area, and lasted almost two hours in total given all the added time.
“It was a mad game in a mad stadium in a gloriously mad city,” The Telegraph’s chief football correspondent Jason Burt wrote.
“And England and Tuchel can take so much credit from how they handled it. This was a result and a performance for the ages, the kind of transformative performance that can lead to… well, let’s not get too carried away.”
“File it as England’s finest World Cup knockout phase victory since 1966,” The Guardian’s David Hytner wrote.
“There have not been a huge number of them; only nine previously, each a gripping drama in its own right. Yet it was the context of this one that set it apart.”
While the journalists stopped short of blowing the lid off completely, Rooney had no such hesitation.
“That was one of the greatest results, performances. They showed attitude, grit, desire, everything you would have wanted an England team to show they showed tonight,” the former England striker said on BBC One.
“Going down to 10 we knew it was going to be difficult. They sat in and I was worried that we went too deep too early, but they put their bodies on the line. The centre-backs and Pickford were outstanding.
“We were the better team until the red card and then we showed a lesson in heading the ball out of the box, blocking shots, just brilliant.”
Then, Rooney delivered the kicker.
“This has shown we have a team who are capable of winning the World Cup,” he said.
“The belief this will give to these players his huge.”
Rooney found an ally in the Premier League’s all-time leading goal scorer.
“We’ve been waiting for England,” former England striker Alan Shearer said on BBC One.
“Before today’s game they had probably only had that one good half against Croatia. There were moments and pieces of brilliance from Kane and Bellingham, but the performance tonight was pretty much perfect.
“There was so much talk of everything that they had to face tonight, the altitude and so on, and they have dealt with that. They have dealt with other knock backs too.
“This was a standout performance, a performance that can carry them forward and give them belief that they can go on and do something in this competition.”
Kane scores match winner for England! | 00:31
The Guardian’s David Hytner agreed: “Tuchel had wanted a spark, the moment of ignition as he targets glory. This may have been it.”
Bellingham was undoubtedly the provider of that spark.
The 23-year-old Real Madrid attacking midfielder was on the nose of many in the English media before the tournament.
He was accused of being a divisive character that could disturb the dressing room.
And the opinion that Bellingham should have been left at home as the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer were, was plastered over the nation’s leading newspapers.
Former England centre back Rio Ferdinand kept the receipts.
While other past players were in awe of Bellingham’s brace as he became the first non-Mexican player to bag a double at the Azteca since Maradona in the 1986 semi-final.
“Big games call for big personalities and there’s not many bigger than him [Jude Bellingham],” former England defender Stephen Warnock said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“He has shown why he is the player starting in that position. Him in full flow, there’s not many better sights.”
“You can’t just rely on Kane,” Warnock added.
Kane battling hard during post match | 00:34
“You have got to make sure you’re chipping in with goals from elsewhere. There is a leadership within Jude Bellingham’s performance now.
“I think he has had to earn the trust of Thomas Tuchel and now he feels he has got that we’re starting to see big, big performances from him.
“The athleticism, the power, it is very difficult to play against.”
Bellingham also made himself a national hero after the game by trying to his own impression of former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke after Australia II won the America’s Cup.
“Have another shot and text your bosses to say you’re not coming in tomorrow,” Bellingham told the BBC when asked for his message to England fans back home.
They were also toasting Pickford.
The Everton shot stopper has always seemed to reach new heights when wearing an England shirt.
He did so again with a multiple superb saves, most notably in the first half when he denied a Raul Jimenez header at the near post and as he repeatedly thumped away Mexican crosses in the dying minutes.
“It was an incredible performance from Pickford. I’m so, so pleased for him,” former England goalkeeper Joe Hart said on BBC One.
“Loved seeing the energy in his eyes at the end of the game, he has loved every single moment of this trip to Mexico.
“He is a top keeper, he has made top saves all season, he is fully capable of it, but what else he brought to the game, the fingertip saves, coming out and winning crosses. He was absolutely brilliant.
“When England made the decision down to ten men to sit deep and defend with their lives, Pickford led. He has played a starring role yet again in a knockout game for England.”
While Tuchel could not have been missed in the sea of praise.
There was scepticism in England when the former PSG, Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager was made Three Lions boss last year.
The German won the Champions League during his time at Stamford Bridge, but a foreign manager has famously never won the World Cup.
While his sacking at Chelsea came as a result of a lack of improvement despite big spending by the London club.
Tuchel became known for overseeing a declining a morale as he regularly chopped and changed the team to experiment with different combinations.
England fans were concerned of that happening again when he announced his England squad.
With several Premier League stars left at home, there was outrage.
Selections like towering Newcastle centre back Dan Burn puzzled.
But the method to Tuchel’s madness was revealed when Burn was subbed on in the second half to help repel repeated balls into the box as England switched to a back five with only ten men on the pitch.
Now, no one is questioning Tuchel after that display.
“From the off the way that England tried to manage the game, the energy and taking the game to Mexico in really difficult circumstances. Then to get the two goals, then to be hurt so soon afterwards and going into half time at 2-1,” Former England striker Alan Shearer said on BBC One.
“The second half started positive but then the red card and a penalty and you thought, ‘what else is going against us?’
“The way they stuck together and the manager’s substitutions to go five at the back at the end, then Pickford was brilliant, a few great saves and coming out and taking the pressure off the defence when he could.
“Every single one of them was superb.”
‘It’s Coming Home’ rang out of the speakers of the Azteca after the final whistle.
It might be prophetic.
English people have always been quick to boast about their World Cup chances.
It is one thing the likes of Rooney and Shearer saying they can add a second star to their shirt.
It is another when the rest of the world stand up and take notice.
Jurgen Klinsmann, the German legend who played for the likes of Inter Milan, Tottenham and Bayern Munich before managing Germany, Bayern, the US and South Korea, did so on ESPN.
“Now I think they can dream big,” he said.
“I think England has a chance to bring it all home.”