Jude Bellingham and Manuel Akanji — who were teammates at Borussia Dortmund went toe-to-toe with each other as England defeated Switzerland 5-3 on penalties after both teams drew 1-1 at the end of 120 minutes.
Despite Bellingham playing in midfield, he came up against Akanji on a few occasions during the pulsating quarter-final clash at Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate chose to deploy the 21-year-old as a left-sided attacking midfielder — similar to his role at Real Madrid. Phil Foden, who seemed to be tasked with the same position on the right-hand side often sat deep and was seemingly instructed to help England in build-up.
On the day, both Bellingham and Akanji impressed.
Jude Bellingham sends classy comment to Manuel Akanji
The Manchester City centre-back was one of the best players on the pitch — with Sofascore stating that he won two out of his two aerial duels, two out of three of his ground duels and registered an impressive pass accuracy of 92%.
As for the Englishman, he especially stood out in the first-half, driving with the ball at ease, showcasing his nifty footwork and seemingly trying his best to ensure the Three Lions went through to the semi-finals.
But as Akanji missed his penalty in the shootout that led to Switzerland being knocked out of the tournament by England, Bellingham sent him a brief message of encouragement on his post-match Instagram post.
The £180,000-a-week man captioned his post: “Brutal end to our @euro2024 campaign. What remains is pride in our achievements and gratitude for the overwhelming support from our fans and families, both in the stadiums and back home in Switzerland!”
Bellingham commented: “What a player.”
The 28-year-old also admitted to letting his team and his country down in the aftermath of the contest.
Manuel Akanji deserves encouragement at this moment in time
Frank Lampard claimed that the treble-winner is a “fantastic player” and that he had a “great tournament” after the game.
Considering Akanji was the one player to miss his spot-kick for Switzerland against England, it would be easy to scapegoat him.
However, that would be extremely unfair, as the versatile defender was brilliant for Murat Yakin’s side at the European Championship and the Swiss’ problems mainly laid in their inability to retain possession for large spells and create high-quality chances on the day.
Akanji has been one of the best centre-backs in world football since signing for Manchester City and him missing a penalty does not change that.
City and Switzerland teammates in particular should remind the former Borussia Dortmund colossus that he remains an incredible player and missing spot-kicks in penalty shootouts is part and parcel of tournament football.
Bellingham certainly deserves credit for looking out for his former teammate and giving him the credit he deserves after he possibly suffered the toughest moment of his career.
