For the first time since Gianluigi Donnarumma broke English hearts and tore apart a fairytale ending in the Euro 2020 Final, England host Italy at Wembley Stadium looking to banish old demons with help from their new knight in shining armour Jude Bellingham.
Bellingham was an unused substitute in 2021 when the Three Lions fell to a 3-2 defeat on penalties to the Azzurri.
Instead, counterparts Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were all called on by Gareth Southgate to come off the sidelines and take the final three penalties.
All of them missed.
England’s Three Lions suffer racism
While many rose to praise the courage of the youngsters who were aged 23 (Rashford), 21 (Sancho), and 19 (Saka) at the time, the occasion was marred by the racism faced by the trio on social media.
Suddenly for the vocal minority, Rashford, Sancho and Saka were no longer viewed as English.
Rashford was black and Jamaican. Sancho was black and Trinidadian. Saka was black and Nigerian.
Though there has been lots of support and awareness brought to the Black Lives Matter movement since then, unfortunately, the likelihood is that the next star to rise through the ranks will face the same prejudice.
Brilliance of Bellingham
Bellingham has had a sensational start to the season since switching from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid in the summer for £88m.
The midfielder has scored 10 goals in his first 10 games for Los Blancos, adding an additional three assists in that time too.
At just 20-years-old, the new Galactico is being dubbed a future Ballon d’Or winner and is one of the favourites to win the European Golden Boy award for 2023.
Bellingham’s mother, Denise, is of African-British heritage and despite the midfielder being heralded as the new hero for England, disgustingly it does not take long for the opinions of some fans to change and strip him of his shining armour to bare his skin tone and ethnicity.
Bellingham was rested in the 1-0 victory over Australia on Friday and is expected to be back to try and help dominate the midfield against the tricky Italian opposition.
Football’s wider-societal issues
Victory tonight for England will secure them a spot to once again compete for the European Championships crown in 2024.
Prior to the final in 2021, there were ugly scenes of fans trying to force entry to the stadium but it seems fitting, that in a world with so much division at the moment that this fixture takes place now, to remind everyone of the upsetting moments that were witnessed two years ago and the fights that we still face to this day.
Whether it be the battle for LGBTQ rights with England midfielder Jordan Henderson at the heart of the debate having been selected while plying his trade in Saudi Arabia.
The conflict between Israel and Palestine, battling anti-semitism and Islamophobia.
Even still the constant fight against racism.
Football is insignificant in the grand scheme of things, especially when fans are lost trying to watch the sport they love as was the case on Monday night in Brussels.
However, the game can be used to push a powerful message and unite everyone to come together in the depths of darkness.
Starting tonight at Wembley.
By Sajidur Rahman (2022 Football Writers’ Association Student Football Writer of the Year)
