With Jude Bellingham seemingly single-handedly dragging England’s footballers to inevitable World Cup glory, can we spare a thought for poor Craig Hope, the Daily Mail’s chief football reporter, who must be going through a torrid time?
In the build-up to the tournament, Hope ran a committed and highly esoteric campaign for the Real Madrid midfielder to be left out of the England squad that even many of his own colleagues found to be a bit odd.
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The peak came in November last year, when the Mail made the unusual decision to take out the back page for a comment piece by Hope under the headline “LEAVE JUDE AT HOME” in which the journalist demanded manager Thomas Tuchel ditch the midfielder from his squad, claiming, bizarrely, “it doesn’t matter how good a player he is”.
Describing Bellingham as a “divisive soloist”, Hope raged that “his ridiculous antics threaten England’s shot at glory”, his argument appearing to be that Bellingham has a tendency to raise an eyebrow at his colleagues’ occasional wayward passes.
But that was only one of a number of articles by Hope attacking the midfielder, including musing about his “intimidatory ego”, his “ridiculous, needless and harmful” behaviour and his conclusion that: “The question now, just when we thought his inclusion this month had answered any doubt, is whether Tuchel needs the threat of such unrest at next summer’s finals. If I were picking the squad tomorrow, I would remove that risk by removing Bellingham.”
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Bellingham has also been, in Hope’s words, “a poster boy for moodiness”, “a brand ambassador for petulance” and “brainwashed into thinking the world is against him” – the latter something one might think entirely understandable had he had the misfortune to read one of Hope’s articles about him.
He currently has six goals at these finals – no midfielder has ever scored more at a World Cup. And his seven World Cup goals in total mean only Harry Kane and Gary Lineker have managed more for England. Still, even if he gets his hands on the trophy on Sunday he’s very unlikely to get something else – a mea culpa from the Mail man who campaigned for him to stay at home!
