Jude Bellingham’s dream 5-a-side team is an altogether scary proposition

Callum Boyle

An all-star selection from one of England’s brightest stars

Jude Bellingham is one of football’s hottest properties, and rightly so. At just 18, he has established himself as one of Borussia Dortmund’s most important players and is a fully integrated member of the England national team.

For such a short career, Bellingham has been fortunate enough to play with some real talent and is only likely to get better because of that.

Last weekend, the former Birmingham City man was back in England for the Sports Personality of the Year awards, where he had been nominated for the Young Sports Personality of the Year – which was won by Tokyo Olympic medalist Sky Brown.

The youngster was also able to give some time to SportsJOE, where he revealed what his dream five-a-side team would be.

In terms of rules, it was quite simple. Bellingham had to be in it and each of his decision’s had to be based on the letters ‘F (Fearless), I (Intelligence), V (Vibe) and E (Elegance).’

Erling Haaland

To nobody’s surprise, Bellingham’s first-choice was one of his current teammates who like him, is one of football’s biggest young talents.

“I’ll go with Erling [Haaland],” he said. “I just think he doesn’t care who he’s playing against, what stage it is, he just goes out there and does his thing.

“He’s not scared of being himself and that’s something I really admire about him.

“He’s a machine and he’ll keep it going for the next 15 years, I have no doubt.”

Marco Reus

Marco Reus celebrates with Jude Bellingham after a Dortmund goal (credit: Getty Images)

This wasn’t all so easy for the youngster, who was torn between a teammate at international level and one of his club teammates.

“I’ll go Marco [Reus], just because he’s my captain,” said Bellingham.

“I think he’s one of them players you have to rate, don’t you? I mean if you play FIFA, you rate him.

“I know sometimes it’s a bit out there to look at players from the German league, but what he’s done there, and you know how good he is. He’s had injuries and stuff that’s kind of stopped his physical dominance.

“When you look at how he plays a game, how smart he is, the positions that he picks up I think that’s what edges him in a lot of games and what helps him create the deciding moments for us.”

“Everyone respects him, but not because we have to,” he added. “Marco respects all of us, young players, old players. He looks after us so much, so yeah he deserves every bit of respect he gets.

Jadon Sancho

Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham after playing for England together (credit: Getty Images)

“Yeah I got there [moving to Borussia Dortmund] and from the first day he was just looking after me, making sure I was always alright.

“His vibe unmatched in the game, I think. I think the way he goes about his business, he plays with a style, off the pitch, he has a style.

“He’s got a great vibe and he’s really positive. I think it does rub off on a lot of the players.

“I went to Dortmund quite quiet and you get to know everyone, but his vibe definitely helps. You come out your shell a lot sooner.

Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane during his playing days for Real Madrid (credit: Getty Images)

Bellingham’s final choice was one that he hadn’t played with himself, but then again, how could you not include someone of this quality?

“You know what, I’ll go with [Zinedine] Zidane. I know I’ve obviously not played with him but I can’t stop watching clips of him.

“He’s probably my favourite midfielder. Him and [Steven] Gerrard are probably neck and neck. I’ve been watching a lot of Zidane recently.

“You talk about elegance, there’s players that score a goal a game and assist, but I think people have forgotten about the beautiful side of football where it’s not all about stats and you can just sit and watch them.

“I think there was no one that was better than him really in terms of that.”

So, in full, Bellingham’s team would be:

Erling Haaland
Marco Reus
Jadon Sancho
Jude Bellingham
Zinedine Zidane

"I'm stuck between Phil Foden and Marco Reus." 🤔

"He'll keep it going for another 15 years, no doubt." 💥@BellinghamJude picks his ultimate 5-a-side team, based on: Fearlessness, Intelligence, Vibe and Elegance pic.twitter.com/zdVhu8y8WM

— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) December 21, 2021