'I always practise that' - Bellingham fuels Jude comparisons with first Dortmund goal

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Jobe Bellingham already knew the comparisons to big brother Jude were inevitable, especially after scoring on his first start for Borussia Dortmund.

Four years, nine months and one week after Jude scored on his first start for the black and yellow - a 5-0 win in the German Cup - Jobe scored on his first start.

The 19-year-old scored 45 minutes into his full debut - a 4-3 defeat of Mamelodi Sundowns in the Club World Cup - 15 minutes longer than it took Jude against Duisburg back in September 2020.

Jude went on to score 24 goals in 132 games for Dortmund before joining Real Madrid in 2023, and Jobe certainly showed signs of his sibling's nack of arriving late in the box to score.

The goal in Cincinnati showed anticipation and poise, agility and ruthlessness. After timing his run perfectly, Jobe cushioned the ball away from his marker before firing past the goalkeeper, albeit with the help of a slight deflection.

It capped a fine display on his full debut, and by his own admission, it's something the former Sunderland midfielder has been working on.

"It's a really nice bonus. I am glad we won but there are still a lot of things for me to improve on personally and for the team. I am really pleased with it," Bellingham told Dazn.

"I practise that so many times, not that exact finish, but arriving late on the edge of the box as a midfielder is something you need to be really good at.

"If you can score, if you can contribute those kind of goals a certain amount per season then you are doing really well.

"I was really pleased because it was something I practised as a kid and at Sunderland so many times, during training, after training. So yeah, I am really proud of it."

Comparisons to Jude are no doubt tiring for Jobe, but there is a reason they are made.

In fact, the timing of his runs into the penalty area are reminiscent of another English midfielder.

"It's easy sometimes as a midfielder to just pass the ball then stand still," former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel told Dazn.

"But no, he wants to arrive late in the box. He wants to be there when the ball drops.

"He reminds me of a certain player I played with, Frank Lampard. 20-odd goals every season by being there and arriving at the right time. I think he's going to score a lot of goals for Dortmund.

"What I like about him is he's very direct. Once he has the ball he's looking up, he's passing forwards, running forwards. He wants to arrive at the box at the right time, and that's exactly what he did.

"The chest control and the volley - he wouldn't have scored this goal if he hadn't passed and then run forwards."

Former Italy and Inter Milan forward Christian Vieri said: "He's going to score a lot of goals because he's always going towards the goal - he looks like his brother, the movements are exactly the same."

Should Dortmund and Real Madrid both win their respective Club World Cup groups and win in the last 16, then the Bellingham brothers would face each other in a quater-final clash in New Jersey.

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