JUDE AWAKENING

Three years ago, Jude Bellingham briefly became the European Championship's youngest ever player - now, after a superb debut season at Real Madrid, he's ready to make a greater impact

- Chris Flanagan

After capturing the hearts of Real Madrid fans during a stellar first year at the club, creating moments that would go down in history, England's midfield ace went to the European Championship dreaming of glory. If anyone knows how Jude Bellingham is feeling right now, it's Steve McManaman.

"Extremely confident," the 52-year-old tells FFT, thinking back to his mood at the beginning of Euro 2000. Weeks before the tournament, he'd put in a man-of-the-match performance as Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 in the Champions League final, scoring with a fine volley from the edge of the box.

"I'd just won the Champions League," he recalls, "then I met up with England as the Euros neared. We started well in the opening match against Portugal, who were a decent team, and I scored to put us 2-0 up.

"Then I got injured and missed the rest of the bloody tournament..."

McManaman delivers that last line with a trademark self-deprecating chuckle, but you can still sense the frustration, 24 years on. He was in the form of his life, ready to do something special with his country, and in one tackle it was swiped away from him. Portugal recovered to win 3-2 and England exited in the group stage despite a victory over Germany. "Talk about bringing you back to Earth," McManaman says ruefully. "You think you're on top of everything; you think you're all-conquering. Then bang - you're injured, you get knocked out, you go home too early and the disappointment sets in."

This summer, he hopes Bellingham can live out his dream from the year 2000: to take his Real Madrid form into the Euros and help to guide England to an elusive trophy. "Like I was, he'll be very confident," McManaman continues. "Can he be the best player at the tournament? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely."