Jude Bellingham was born for the big stage and already looks like the leader of the England team.

In Kane's absence, England trailed Bellingham. Photo: Getty Images/Mark Atkins

Modern England's era was inevitably dominated by the people around whom the greatest dramas always seemed to unfold: David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and now, even more so, Jude Bellingham.

The new young king of the English game remains something of a close-guarded secret — it's hardly an interview or even his first public press conference for England just yet, but if you've seen him perform it's hard not to discern his character. He plays on the edge, with a clear understanding of what he is capable of. He tells his opponents what he thinks about them — good and bad. He is always ready to express his opinion to the referee, and considering how many fouls he has received, there are plenty of opportunities for this.

His equalizer with England's last strike of the game provided the perfect moment for another exciting evening in Bellingham. He ran back to his own half from the Belgium penalty area to celebrate the victory of his chasing teammates, and as a motive it seemed appropriate. Without Harry Kane for those two games, this young England team, made up of those who had suffered serious injury, fell behind the new leader.

JUDE BELLINGHAM SAVES ENGLAND WITH THE FINAL Blow 🤯#ThreeLions #ENGBEL pic.twitter.com/a8nstwioXu

— Channel 4 Sport (@C4Sport) March 26, 2024

Bellingham scored a fine equalizer in the 95th minute, taking a cool first touch from James Maddison's insightful flick back and then calmly firing into the corner as the game raged around him. He missed a chance in the first half and shot wide again after the break, but now he was ready for the main action. Seconds earlier he had won England's final corner with a dribble and shot. When the ball was cleared by the corner flag, Bellingham put his hands on his knees and looked straight ahead. He looked exhausted. And yet there was strength left for the last moment.

All of this makes Bellingham interesting. It feels like he was born for the big stage, and with such a long drum roll leading up to his prodigy career, he had plenty of time to lose his cool. He never looked like this. At 20 years and nine months, he already has 29 England caps and three goals to his name. For such a young man, this is an astonishing number of caps for the national team. Only four behind the prodigy of all prodigies, Rooney, at the same age.

Bellingham saved England with a draw with the last kick of the game. Photo: Shutterstock/Andy Raine

It would also be fair to say that, judging by his post-match remarks on Channel 4, Bellingham has a fairly well-developed understanding of the vicissitudes of playing for England. “I know what kind of bullshit we would get if we lost two games on the bounce,” he said. A feeling of foreboding about the possible reaction to home defeats is indeed a legacy that is passed down from one generation of England players to the next, although in this case it was misplaced.

Despite the mistakes of the improvised defense, England's performance there were a lot of good things. The attacking side, which featured Bellingham as well as Ivan Toney, Jarrod Bowen and then Phil Foden — when he came into the game after the break — was impressive. This kind of offensive flair can completely change the mood.

“I know everyone is going to be negative about it,” Bellingham said, “but you have to take these games for what they are, take the positives and learn from the negatives.” Perhaps this burden of history has fallen heavily on the shoulders of young people. He was closer to home when asked what could be said about the games and explained how a different team was built from the original plans of the injury-hit Gareth Southgate.

Otherwise, the warning to the fighting midfielder of the Belgian Everton Amadou Onana was issued right up to the final whistle. Bellingham finally broke the tension with a calming hug. Managing soccer tournament referees is a fine art that Bellingham will have to learn. Too few of his predecessors in England ever did so. Southgate would later say he was confident tournament games would be judged differently, most likely in favor of players like his number 10.

“Jude is certainly the headline,” Southgate admitted , — that the spirit of competition, the desire not to lose, the desire to win played a decisive role in achieving the late goal.”

It is this attitude that propels the young man forward — the absolute confidence that he belongs to this place. the center of the England team or the heart of Real Madrid. If there had to be a summation of his short but remarkable career, one that included another important goal, it would be that he never looked less than ready for the big games and the big moments. They keep coming.