Jude Bellingham hit back at England's critics after their last-16 win against Slovakia, mentioning the so-called "pile on" from their performances at Euro 2024.

The 21-year-old midfielder scored a dramatic overhead kick in the 95th minute to take the game into extra-time.

England captain Harry Kane, who described Bellingham's goal as "the best in our history", went on to score the winner, just a minute into extra-time.

After the full-time whistle, Bellingham explained why he celebrated his goal by raising his arms and shouting “Who else?” before gesturing a talking expression with his hand.

"It's a combination of a lot of things," he said. "Playing for England is an enjoyable feeling but it's also a lot of pressure. You hear people talk a lot of rubbish. It's nice when you can deliver and give them a little bit back."

Bellingham added: "It's very difficult when you talk in press conferences and interviews to talk as openly as footballers want to because they're always judged. For me, football, being on the pitch, scoring goals and celebrating is my release.

"Maybe it was a message to a few people. I was very happy at the end, lots of adrenaline."

When asked what he meant by the "rubbish" comments, Bellingham added: "You know what I mean by the rubbish. Playing for England should be the most proud moment of your career but often it's quite difficult.

"There's a really high intense pressure. The fans expect a lot from us regardless of what happened in recent tournaments years and years ago.

"People talk a lot. You do have to take it personally a little bit. We work so hard at this game.

"We come in every day, we work hard to put on a performance for the fans, sometimes it doesn't go well and sometimes it feels like there's a a bit of a pile on, it's not nice to hear.

"But you can always use it and for moments like that, it's nice to throw it back to some people."

Image credit: Hayters TV

Bellingham's comments have received a huge amount of reaction from fans on social media.

One said: "As many others have said, it’s not a pile on, it’s deserved criticism for very poor performances. His goal was an incredible moment, but they’re massively lucky to still be in it."

A second wrote: "Exact reason why England fans aren’t as buzzing for tournament football compared to the past. Get outplayed for large parts of the game, go 80+ min without a shot on target. Then the arrogance comes out. It’s like the humbling is needed."

A third commented: "Great goal and moment but the overall performance was poor and needs to improve against the Swiss."

A fourth said: "Again, this is incredibly bad PR. You’ve won, after playing very badly (again). Move on and be better next time. Not reignite the row with those who voiced more than fair criticism. Read the room. Now this will dominate the news agenda until the next game. Which helps no-one."

A fifth added: "Easy to forget how young Bellingham is considering his maturity, composure, eloquence etc. But he can be a right mard sometimes. Being arsey about his ‘doubters’ and moaning about (justified) criticism of the team. Can come across as entitled when he generally seems a nice lad."

Image credit: Getty

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