'Special' - Ex-Sunderland midfielder Jobe Bellingham on England call-up & playing alongside brother Jude
Ex-Sunderland midfielder Jobe Bellingham in line for England debut, write PA.
Former Sunderland midfielder Jobe Bellingham is lost for words at the prospect of representing England alongside his brother Jude.
The younger sibling has been called up to Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the first time following impressive performances for England Under-21s and Borussia Dortmund. If he features in upcoming Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain, the Bellinghams will be the 22nd set of brothers to represent England. Jude has already said it would be the highlight of his career and Jobe said it would be an emotional moment.
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Jobe initially signed for Sunderland from boyhood club Birmingham City in 2023, and would go on establish himself as a first team regular on Wearside, scoring 11 goals and assisting four more across 90 appearances in all competitions, as well as playing a key role in helping the Black Cats to secure a long-awaited promotion back to the Premier League. Last summer, the emerging talent completed a big money move to German giants Borussia Dortmund.
“I can’t ignore it, but obviously with Jude being here too, it’s a great, great feeling for the family,” Jobe said on the Football Association’s England app. “It’s quite special, to be honest. It’s such a huge bonus on top of something that’s already so special and so great. “To be called up for England is a dream itself and I’ve been so proud to have the opportunity to represent England at every age group.
“I always enjoyed coming away with England, I love competing against top players at whichever age group. “But to have that chance of an opportunity to represent England with my brother, it’s really hard to put into words.
“I don’t have the words, really. I think it’s only emotion that could describe it, and, hopefully, if that time does come, you’ll see a lot of emotion from people, and definitely from my family.”
Jobe was notified of his selection by Tuchel last week, with the German revealing that Jude had recommended he take a look at his brother. The Dortmund midfielder was all smiles when he took the call. “Yeah, I’d been obviously hoping for it, as you would as a player,” he added. “It’s somewhere you aspire to be but I thought I’d probably be with the Under-21s, which I’m proud about in itself.
“Then it was last Thursday when I was driving back from training, and I saw a message pop up in my car and it said, ‘Hi, Jobe, it’s Thomas Tuchel’. “I was, as you can imagine, ecstatic and so excited and then when I took the call later on, it was just quite surreal.
“You don’t really know what to do with yourself in that moment, but you’re just so pleased and I couldn’t stop smiling. “I feel really, really proud. It was something that I’d hoped for and I felt like I was making it a little bit more possible each week with each game so yeah, I’m really pleased.”
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