‘No drama’ for England after Ghana draw, insists Jude Bellingham
· Yahoo Sports
Jude Bellingham says there are “no worries, no stress, no dramas”, despite England suffering from “second game fever” when they were held to a 0-0 World Cup draw with Ghana.
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Thomas Tuchel’s side were unable to build on last week’s impressive opening game against Croatia as an 11-man defence of Ghana shut them out in Boston.
It extended a miserable recent record of drawing their second game at major tournaments to four, with three of them being 0-0.
They are still in pole position to qualify for the last 32 ahead of Saturday’s game with Panama and Bellingham does not want people to be “too het up on it”.
“It was very frustrating, like second game fever, the same as always with us,” the Real Madrid star, who won man of the match, said.
“It feels like in all the tournaments I’ve been to, it’s been the same, a decent performance to start and a good win. And then just the second one, frustrated a little bit with how they defended, how they set up.
“Credit to them, they got exactly out of the game what they played for, we couldn’t quite break them down, and even with all the corners, all the possession, all the shots on goal from distance.
“But it’s one of those things that happens.”
He continued: “It’s important for us and for you guys as well, not to get too negative, not to get too het up on it.
“We’ll prepare, we’ll watch the footage, see where we could have been better and prepare for Panama. So, no worries, no stress, no drama at all.
“It’s important, I’m young, but still one of the experienced players. And my message has just been to make sure we stay positive, keep the good atmosphere we’ve got going.
“It’s not the end of the world, it’s four points, puts us in a good position. And then for Panama, rest, recover, and go again.”
Ghana, who beat Panama in their opening group game and are also on the verge of qualification, came to Boston to defend.
“I think Ghana knew what they had to do to get out the group,” Bellingham, who also answered questions in fluent Spanish, said.
“I think they’ve done it exceptionally well, their defensive shape, especially the way they blocked through the middle and tried to try to get us to play and funnel to the wide areas, and then they had players commit and help with the winger with the threats that we had.
Even the runs that we tried to make, it was all just a bit clogged in the middle. Fair play to them, credit to them, they’re excellent.
“We probably could have done a little bit more to open them up, and towards the end of the game, I think it’s just about committing bodies and trying to take risks, but, like I said, not the end of the world.”