- England secured their place in Euro 2024 semi-finals after beating Switzerland
- Bellingham says Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink played a big role in penalty shootouts
- LISTEN to It’s All Kicking Off! EUROS DAILY: Gareth Southgate has gone a bit rogue… and the mask has slipped
Jude Bellingham has praised Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s contribution to England’s penalty shootout triumph against Switzerland.
England advanced to the semi-finals of Euro 2024 on Saturday evening after being taken to penalties by Murat Yakin’s side.
Manuel Akanji’s miss proved to be decisive with Alexander-Arnold completing the 5-3 sudden death win that sets up a semi-final clash against the Netherlands.
Bellingham, who also converted his spotkick, says he was confident of scoring thanks to Three Lions assistant Hasselbaink’s work in training.
Speaking to BBC Radio, the 21-year-old said, ‘It’s a first for me to be involved in one, to take one. I have awful memories kind of growing up and I think the first Euro that I was really interested in was the one against Italy [Euro 2012] with the dink from [Andrea] Pirlo.
Jude Bellingham has praised Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s contribution to England’s victory
Hasselbaink has been part of Gareth Southgate backroom staff since March 2023
‘It kind of stains your memory a little bit, you always think: ‘England in penalty shoot-outs, I’m not sure,’ but it’s really nice to have that experience to add to the locker now.
‘I was really confident in my preparation, confident in the things I talked through with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, he’s stepped up for us massively.
‘It’s the work that he does behind closed doors, with the lads being willing to take on that information, that put us in those situations in order to be able to win.’
Bellingham added, ‘So this is a massive team effort. Another thing is [goalkeepers] Dean Henderson, Aaron Ramsdale, Tom Heaton, who have been with us this camp, they’ve been huge in helping us practise the penalties.
‘Again, they won’t get the credit they deserve but essentially, if they don’t put in the right effort, you don’t have the right practice to go out and execute. So many people are involved in this win. It’s a massive team win.’
Hasselbaink was Gareth Southgate’s team-mate during their time at Middlesbrough and joined England’s backroom staff in March 2023.
The 52-year-old previously managed the likes of QPR, Burton Albion and Northampton in the EFL.
Meanwhile, the win over Switzerland secured England’s third penalty shootout triumph in four under Southgate.
England advanced to the semi-finals of Euro 2024 after beating Switzerland on penalties
Jude Bellingham sent Yan Sommer the wrong way and converted from 12 yards out
The first victory came in the 2018 last-16 win over Colombia before also beating Switzerland in the 2019 Nations League.
The one defeat came against Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.
England will seek to book a place in the final for a second consecutive European Championship when they take on the Netherlands in Wednesday’s semi-final clash.