Jude Bellingham makes centre stage his own as England’s youngest star sees off oldest rivals
The oldest international rivalry was decided by the youngest player on the pitch. As Scotland and England marked 150 years since they first met, it was scarcely surprising the dominant figure was a man who has been alive for barely 20 of them. Jude Bellingham has made a habit of excelling on foreign soil of late, becoming the Bundesliga’s player of the year, making a superlative start to life in Spain with Real Madrid and now inflicting a first defeat of 2023 on Scotland. Bellingham played a part – two, really – in England’s first goal. He scored their second. He made their third for Harry Kane in wonderful fashion. A booking for a bust-up with Jack Hendry – it may be termed a bit of a stramash in these parts – was a sign of his competitive instincts. A traumatic night for Harry Maguire, the unwitting scorer of Scotland’s goal, was a triumphant one for Bellingham. Wearing the No.10 – it will be instructive if the shirt remains his or ever returns to Raheem Sterling – and operating as a 10, he scored just his second goal for England. A month after his Real debut, he already has five for his new club, but the chances are that Bellingham will become more prolific in his country’s colours. As, aided by Bellingham, England struck twice in four first-half minutes, it was a night of double disappointment for Scotland. Their qualification to Euro 2024 could have been sealed if Norway failed to beat Georgia but instead Erling Haaland and co prolonged their wait. For Steve Clarke, the flagship win of 2023 came against Spain; in the final reckoning, it may count for more, much as overcoming England would have boosted their morale and much as his selection, with the strongest available team, scarcely suggested this was a friendly. The crowd settled instead for spending the second half baiting the England substitute Maguire; his own goal could scarcely have been greeted with a louder cheer had it been scored by Hampden’s darling, John McGinn. Yet goals by England’s two Harrys cancelled each other out, Kane restoring the two-goal margin, just as Scotland’s skipper set up a goal for either side: Andy Robertson initially erred for Bellingham’s strike then made a redemptive contribution to Maguire’s own goal, the left wing-back materialising on the right wing to turn provider. It was the one strike that did not involve Bellingham, such was his ubiquity. After half an hour where England had plenty of possession but chances were rarities, a high-speed move that took them from one end of the pitch to the other, with both Kyle Walker and Bellingham twice involved. Walker’s pace facilitated it and, having scored a belated first England goal in his 77th cap, was aiming for a second with a low drive. It instead became an assist, Phil Foden deftly turning the ball in. It was a marked improvement on his first shot, skied from Marcus Rashford’s low cross. Then Bellingham slotted in after an error by Robertson, stabbing the ball straight to the Real Madrid man. It was nevertheless the product of a new-found predatory sense and a willingness to spend more time in the box. Arguably his finest contribution, however, came for England’s third goal. A slick passing move came to a fine culmination when Bellingham span away from two defenders with enviable ease and released Kane to score his 59th England goal. Gareth Southgate had made six changes but retained four major figures, in Kane, Bellingham, Walker and Declan Rice. The full-back, a player Southgate twice talked out of international retirement, showed his significance as a galloping force on England’s right. Rashford was a frequent outlet on the left, illustrating the importance of having at least one winger with the pace to run in behind defences; it is something James Maddison lacks and the Manchester United man may be winning their particular duel. It was, though, another occasion to forget for the luckless Maguire. Summoned at half-time to replace Marc Guehi, he diverted Robertson’s cross past Aaron Ramsdale, giving the goalkeeper no chance. His every touch was cheered by the Scotland fans and, a century and a half after the first meeting between these countries finished goalless, the home support enjoyed his misfortune when they scored. It was not the only sign of an intimidating atmosphere. God Save the King was drowned out by whistles and boos; Flower of Scotland was roared, choruses about Edward II’s distinctly unsuccessful 14th-century army being used to try and intimidate Southgate’s 21st-cenury troops. 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Our head hurts already, and that’s before we’ve had our first glass of mulled wine, but the Virginia Tech professor John Lewis – who often gets confused on Twitter/X for the popular department store – has finally had his say on this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert. Often heralded as one of the first signs that the festive season is fast approaching, the commercial this year tells the story of a Venus flytrap named Snapper who wreaks havoc in the family home, to the song “Festa” by the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The ad also doesn’t feature a ‘dad’, but rather a mother and grandmother, with John Lewis explaining that they “always attempt to show a broad representation of British life” across their marketing and that it is a “very realistic scenario for thousands of families in the UK”. Though of course, in addition to the advert itself being a tradition at this point, in the world of social media, it’s to be expected that Mr Lewis will get a misplaced tweet as a result of having the handle @johnlewis (the store’s handle is @johnlewisretail, by the way). Giving his take on the ad, Mr Lewis wrote: “I’ve had some interesting Christmas tress before, but…” It’s the first tweet the academic has posted to Twitter (now known as X) since April, when he commented on the Elon Musk-owned platform stripping him and other verified users of their blue ticks if they didn’t want to pay for the once coveted icon. “Whatever will I do without my #BlueCheckMark? My identity is destroyed. I have no reason to go on,” he said, likely with a good degree of sarcasm. Back in November 2022, he went viral after telling Musk not to suspend the Twitter account for John Lewis (the shop), saying "they are not doing a parody of me, it's a homage". While Mr Lewis has broken his Twitter/X silence this week, the last time he offered a helping hand for someone who tagged the wrong account was back in March. It is not known if he’ll return to redirecting complaints and questions to the department store’s account this year. When indy100 approached Mr Lewis for a comment or interview, he declined, saying he was not “doing interviews, even written, about this topic this season”. Please don’t log off this year, John – we could do with your tongue-in-cheek fun on our timelines as some brief comic relief while browsing the hellscape. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
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