Jude Bellingham set to face referee he had publicly called out over match-fixing incident, at England vs Netherlands in Euro 2024 semi-final
England midfielder Jude Bellingham will face a familiar person when the Three Lions face the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-final in Dortmund on Wednesday (July 10). The game will be officiated by Felix Zwayer, a referee the Real Madrid star had accused of match-fixing during his time at Borussia Dortmund.
The German referee was in charge of a clash between Dortmund and Bayern Munich in 2021, which ended 3-2 against Bellingham's side after a few questionable officiating decisions. Speaking about Zwayer at the time, the England star had said:
"For me, it wasn't (a penalty). He (Hummels) is not even looking at the ball, and he's fighting to get it, and it hits him."
"You can look at a lot of the decisions in the game. You give a referee that has match-fixed before, the biggest game in Germany. What do you expect?"
England and Jude Bellingham will hope that Zwayer has a less controversial game when he takes charge of their Euro 2024 semi-final as they look to book their place in the Berlin final on Sunday (July 14).
England star Jude Bellingham credits Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for Euro 2024 penalty shootout win
England midfielder Jude Bellingham has credited Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for helping him stay calm during the penalty shootout victory over Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarter-final.
Speaking to BBC Radio, the 21-year-old revealed that he sought the former striker's advice and shared how it helped him stay calm and confident during the shootout:
"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. It kind of stains your memory a little bit, you always think: 'England in penalty shootouts, 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."
Jude Bellingham concluded:
"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."
England will face Hasselbaink's country, the Netherlands, in the semifinal of Euro 2024 as a place in the final beckons.