Jude Bellingham has praised Kobbie Mainoo’s performance for England against Belgium and believes the Manchester United teenager is destined for a big future in the sport.
The Three Lions looked to be heading for a second consecutive defeat on Tuesday night at Wembley after a first-half brace from Youri Tielemans, but Bellingham struck in the 95th minute to secure a 2-2 draw.
Mainoo, who collected his first cap off the bench against Brazil on Saturday, was handed his full debut against Belgium – who are rather fittingly known as the Red Devils – and gave an eye-catching display.
The 18-year-old played a decisive role in the move that led to England’s first goal, showing composure and quick feet throughout the match, and Bellingham has seen enough to know Mainoo has a very bright career ahead of him.
Asked just how good Mainoo is, Bellingham told Channel 4 after the game: ‘Yeah he was good tonight, he was good.
‘It’s difficult, I’m speaking like an old head here but I know how hard it can be when there’s a clamour and people put a lot of pressure on you.
‘So I don’t want to add fuel to the fire but he’s definitely a brilliant player and he’s going to have an amazing future at Man United and hopefully for England as well.’
On his own, last-gasp equaliser, Bellingham continued: ‘I liked it because I knew the rubbish we would’ve got if we had lost two games on the bounce.
‘With these games you’ve got to keep perspective in mind, there’s a lot of lads making debuts, a lot of these boys I’ve never played with before.
‘I thought we created a lot of chances, I had one I should score and a couple of other shots on goal.
‘I’m happy that I could make it up to the team but really we should be winning with all the chances we’ve made, myself, Phil [Foden], Kobbie had some big ones.
‘So it’s one of those things, I think these are two games that will stand us in great stead going into the Euros.
‘I know people will be negative about it but you have to take these games for what they are, use the positives, learn from the negatives and I’m sure we’ll be fine.’
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