Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham left the critics with egg on their faces again, scoring twice for a second straight World Cup knockout stage game to match a 40 year old record hit by Diego Armando Maradona in that famous 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Bellingham finished like Harry Kane twice as England came from behind to defeat his old Dortmund buddy Erling Haaland's Norway, who were hungry for another big upset after taking out Vinicius Junior (and Neymar) in the Round of 16.
Jude had another grand midfield performance befitting of a Real Madrid icon, racking up seven combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn to prove a nuisance on the ball, in addition to the clutch winners he scored for the Three Lions.
Morgan Rogers put the haters to shame
Coming into the World Cup, Bellingham was the victim of yet another smear campaign from the English media, with people stating that Jude's starting spot would be in question or even urging Thomas Tuchel and England to "Leave Jude home", a statement so obtuse and illogical that you would question the very allegiance - and sanity - of those calling for Jude to be left off the squad.
And funny enough, the very player the English media was trying to promote as the alternative to Jude Bellingham in Tuchel's starting lineup, Aston Villa attacker Morgan Rogers, thinks what everyone was saying about Jude was absolute insanity.
Once again, Rogers came to Jude's defense after the Real Madrid man swept home his poorly handled shot from distance, telling reporters after the win over Norway, via Madrid Xtra, “What do I think of Jude? Player of the tournament, maybe. He’s been unbelievable. People who thought he wasn’t gonna play in this tournament are crazy.”
The Player of the Tournament shout is well earned, by the way, because six goals from midfield in conjunction with all that Jude Bellingham does to progress play, defend, and help the team win is massive and even more impressive than what Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi are doing, because they are not covering as much ground as Bellingham.
But Morgan Rogers also straight up calling the fans and, mostly, media members "crazy" for disrespecting Jude by not wanting him to play at all at the World Cup is massive. Rogers is taking them to task publicly for their depravity, and there are a lot of people making more money than they should who need to be ashamed of themselves.
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