Hey Jude, was that necessary now? Fighting Red Devils give away a prestigious victory against strong England in the final second

What a stadium Wembley is. Anyone who plays football in such a setting cannot afford to have a day off. About 90,000 people in the stands hungry for heavy metal football, even in a practice match. The greatest rock gods – from Freddie Mercury to AC/DC – have already rocked this temple, but football players should do the same.

Much more power

Fortunately, the Red Devils realized that. They had left the weak men’s game behind in Dublin to everyone’s relief. Here in London, Domenico Tedesco sent the big boys into what was the last big test before the European Championship. The only experiment turned out to be Zeno Debast in the heart of the defense and the biggest surprise was that Youri Tielemans appeared again as a playmaker. This after his poor performance in Ireland.

However, it must be said. Tielemans is not a player who will take a team to a higher level on his own, but surround him with strong footballers and satellite Youri can do much more. He started with a subtle pass to Lukaku and when English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford actually played a dramatic goal, he was on his wits. Tielemans pushed the 0-1 into the corner with his left counter-foot. That goalkeeper was a comedian. Hahaha.

The Belgians put up a fight. With Amadou Onana and Orel Mangala in the core of the team you simply have a lot more power and there was a lot of pressure. Tielemans often moved next to Lukaku to grab the English by the throat. Nice to see.

Although we cannot of course demand that the Belgians (constantly) set the pace at Wembley against a potential European Championship winner. The English may have missed a whole host of top players such as Kane and Saka, but they still took control. Their ball possession increased to no less than 70 percent and the danger suddenly came from all sides. The Devils played football in their Tintin outfits and those brown pants came in handy. Butt pinching.

Unfortunately it was unbearable. Kobbie Mainoo was not put under enough pressure for a moment. He reached Jude Bellingham who launched striker Ivan Toney. At that moment Jan Vertonghen had to pull the emergency brake: penalty. Strong Jan claimed that there was nothing wrong, but still… Toney did not kick as bad as the Irishman Ferguson and the score was 1-1. After that it was sink or sink for a while. Bowen had a header goal ruled out for offside and Bellingham missed two unmissable chances. Hey Jude, that could be better.

Vertonghen’s penalty foul on Toney.

Photo: Getty Images

Counter team

The fighting spirit was enviable and the good news is that Belgium remains an excellent counter team. Gene nonsense. The way the 1-2 fell from a counter-attack reminded us of the historic counter against Japan. A real world goal. Strong Leandro Trossard recovered the ball in his own half. He served Tielemans who sent Lukaku away with a cross. Big Rom defeated the clumsy Dunk and what he then pulled off was nothing short of amazing. With the outside of his foot, Rom curled the ball in front of goal, where Youri Tielemans nodded in his second of the evening after a 60-meter sprint.

Youri Tielemans, the Wizard of Wembley. This stadium suits him, because here he also delivered Leicester the FA Cup in 2021 by scoring against Chelsea after a huge bang. The midfielder really needed this top performance for the European Championship. Although we should not forget the titanic work of Romelu Lukaku. The striker now has 83 goals and 17 assists for the Red Devils. He has now been involved in 100 goals in 114 international matches. What numbers.

Tielemans thanks Lukaku for his wonderful assist.

Photo: Getty Images

The match was just fun to watch. Wembley worthy. After the break, it would be mainly important for the Belgians to defend their lead. But playing football from a low block: Vertonghen and Debast can do that. Of course it was all hands on deck and The Three Lions still created great opportunities, but very often there was a Belgian leg in between. Goalkeeper Matz Sels receives an honorable mention for this. The goalkeeper seems to be increasingly earning his starting place at the expense of Casteels with his saves. He seemed to be winning until the very last second when Jude Bellingham scored the 2-2.

Hey Jude, was that still necessary? It was a shame for the Belgians who had already made a lot of changes, but not undeserved for the English. Let us remember that at times we have been able to put our foot next to a big favorite for the European Championship and that guys like Doku, Lukaku, Tielemans and Trossard still have flashes of class in them. We still haven’t lost under Domenico Tedesco. Our country is not going to become European champion, but the Belgians are more than a bunch of Tintins.