Bellingham Raises Controversy After Exchanging His Shirt With The Albanian Player Amid Criticism From The Fans (video)

Despite his return to Thomas Tuchel’s starting lineup with a remarkable performance, Bellingham caught the attention this time for reasons far from football.

At the end of the first half, the Real Madrid star exchanged his shirt with Cristian Asellani, the Albanian and Inter Milan player, in a scene that did not please many fans, who considered the behavior “unbecoming of an official match,” describing him as “the great gentleman.”

Bellingham missed the October camp to complete his recovery from shoulder surgery, before Thomas Tuchel officially decided to include him in the roster for the matches between Serbia and Albania.

He participated as a substitute in the first, and started in the second, and remained on the field until the final whistle.

But the shot of exchanging shirts before entering the locker room created a widespread wave of anger, as some questioned the significance of doing so in the middle of a competitive match, instead of waiting until the end.

One fan wrote: “I can’t stand Billingham in the national team… he swaps shirts at half time and waves his arms when he doesn’t get the ball.”
Another added: “Why don’t you wait for the end of the match? Stop this nonsense!”

Public anger coincided with other tension within the team.

The French press indicated that Tuchel rebuked Bellingham for his angry reaction after being substituted in the 84th minute, as the player waved his arms and showed his annoyance before sitting on the bench.

Tuchel said after the match: “Behavior is the basis. We will not change a decision because a player waved his arms.”

Despite the uproar, Danny Murphy, a former England player, believes that the criticism is exaggerated: “Bellingham is the best personality on the field. If you had 11 players like Judd, you would win most tournaments.”

He added: “We should not try to bring him down because he is the best we have. He is an exceptional player.”

Source: “Media”