England defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis spoke of reaching the pinnacle of football with his dream England debut – even if it might have upset his future father-in-law Roy Keane.
The Southampton centre-back is engaged to Leah, the daughter of the former Ireland and Manchester United midfielder. As Harwood-Bellis made his senior England debut against Ireland, Keane happened to be in the ITV studio on punditry duty.
Harwood-Bellis came off the bench to score England’s fifth goal in a 5-0 victory, rising highest to meet a cross from Jude Bellingham. He was one of four players to open their account for the Three Lions as Lee Carsley’s farewell match brought a 5-0 win and promotion in the UEFA Nations League.
After praising the goal as a “bittersweet” moment, Keane joked that “It’s not done and dusted yet!” as reference was made to Harwood-Bellis’ engagement. When the former Manchester City defender was asked about his debut, though, the on-field achievements took centre-stage.
“‘It is a great day for me and my family,” Harwood-Bellis said. “It’s every young kid’s dream to make their debut, and to score the goal is magical. I had a few hints yesterday that I would be needed at some point, when I got the nod to come on I was over the moon.
“There’s always a pathway and us young ones, we do believe we can get into the seniors. We know the door is open if we take our chances, I’ve got to thank Lee [Carsley] for calling me up and I have repaid him with a nice goal.
“Playing for my country at every level is something I take such pride in. To play for the seniors is something you dream of, it is the pinnacle of football, to do it and score is some feeling.”
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After a goalless first half at Wembley, the game turned in England’s favour when Ireland defender Liam Scales conceded a penalty and picked up a second yellow card. Harry Kane scored from the spot, with Anthony Gordon, Conor Gallagher and Jarrod Bowen all finding the net before Harwood-Bellis rounded off the scoring.
England won five out of six UEFA Nations League matches under interim boss Carsley, who took over from Gareth Southgate shortly after Euro 2024. He will now hand over the reins to new permanent boss Thomas Tuchel having handed out debuts to a number of stars of his Under-21 Euros-winning squad… including Harwood-Bellis.
“Our job is to help [Tuchel] as much as we can,” Carsley said after the victory over Ireland. “I’ll look forward to meeting him in the next few weeks. He’s an elite coach.
“The challenge now for the players is to be in the March squad, and a lot of them have enhanced their reputation. I’m proud for a lot of them. I wanted the England team to be exciting to watch and be attacking. And now we’ve seen it.”
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