Gary Neville doesn’t sugarcoat much, and he’s not about to start now with England facing Norway in the World Cup quarterfinals. The Manchester United legend and Sky Sports pundit laid out a pretty straightforward take: England should win, but it’s going to be a grind.
England just survived Mexico 3-2 while playing a man down for most of the second half. That win was arguably their best performance of the tournament so far. Jude Bellingham played like a guy who doesn’t understand what pressure means. But now they’ve got Norway, and Norway just beat Brazil 2-1. So nobody’s sleeping on this one.
Haaland Is the Problem Nobody Solves
Neville didn’t dance around the obvious: Erling Haaland is a nightmare matchup for any defense. He called the striker’s performance against Brazil “devastating.” Two goals, both classic Haaland. One where he slipped in front of Gabriel for a header. The other a pure blast that beat one of the best keepers in the world. Simple stuff.
“He can be anonymous in matches, he doesn’t touch it a lot, but you know that he’s explosive,” Neville said. “It’s difficult to stop him for 90 minutes or if it’s extra-time happens as well then it’s 120 minutes. But we should be favorites and I don’t think that’s us getting carried away.”
He also gave a nod to Martin Odegaard, who he thought played really well against Brazil. So it’s not just Haaland. Norway has some real talent in the middle of the park.
Bellingham Has ‘Smashed Through’ the Ceiling
Neville was maybe most fired up talking about Jude Bellingham. Going into the tournament, Neville said he thought Harry Kane was the only truly world-class player on England’s roster. Declan Rice and Bellingham were edging toward it, he figured. Not anymore.
“I think in this tournament, if I didn’t think he was world-class before, I think he’s absolutely smashed through that ceiling,” Neville said. “What we saw last night was a complete performance, it was absolutely incredible.”
He pointed out that Bellingham has been basically carrying England since the opening game against Croatia. And that’s a lot to say about a 22-year-old in a knockout World Cup game. But Neville was clear: Bellingham is playing on another level right now. And England will need every bit of that if they want to get past Norway and into the semifinals.
Kickoff is set for later this week. Expect a tight one.
Leave a Comment