“I didn’t deserve Man of the Match. It should have been a Ghana player,” Bellingham admits
After England’s 0-0 draw with Ghana, Jude Bellingham was handed the Man of the Match award. His response was telling.
“Yeah, I didn’t deserve it, to be honest,” he told BBC Sport. “It should have gone to one of their lads who defended so well. It was hard to get in the game. I’m grateful for whoever voted, but it probably should have gone to one of their lads.”
He is right. England had 79% possession and 19 shots. They could not score. Ghana, ranked 73rd in the world against England’s 4th, outfought, outdefended, and outorganised one of the tournament favourites for 90 minutes. Bellingham himself was substituted off in the 73rd minute having barely made an impact.
The award should have gone to a Ghanaian. Bellingham knows it. The viewers know it. And yet the trophy went to him anyway, a fitting symbol, perhaps, of a night where very little went the way it should have for the Black Stars.
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