Rio Ngumoha admitted he was left speechless after being handed his first England cap by Jude Bellingham in the dressing room following his debut against New Zealand. The Liverpool winger came off the bench at half-time in the 1-0 win, and after the match Bellingham, the Real Madrid star, presented him with the cap in a moment captured on social media.
"Congratulations on an amazing debut. I think we all enjoyed watching it, and obviously you're going to have a really bright future at your club and hopefully with us as well," Bellingham said. "It's a pleasure to give it to you because I know there'll be so many more. So, congratulations."
“Rio Ngumoha was left speechless after Jude Bellingham presented him with his first England cap following his debut against New Zealand.”
A shy Ngumoha replied: "Thank you everyone. I'm happy. I'm speechless! I just want to say thank you. We keep going!"
The 18-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise at Anfield, making 29 appearances for the Reds last season and scoring a stoppage-time winner against Newcastle at St James' Park in August. That form earned him a call-up to Thomas Tuchel's pre-tournament friendlies, although he was not named in the 26-man World Cup squad. Tuchel handed a host of young stars the opportunity to be around the team, with Bournemouth's Alex Scott, Fulham midfielder Josh King, and Ethan Nwaneri — who spent the second half of last season on loan at Marseille from Arsenal — also part of the group.
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford told the Press Association: "He was quality, nothing fazed him. He's had a really good season at Liverpool and the manager gave him his debut and he showed how good he is."
Ngumoha's performances have caught the attention of Bayern Munich, who are making him one of their main summer targets, potentially sparking a fight for Liverpool to retain him. The Three Lions laboured to a warm-up victory over New Zealand, with the starting XI for the World Cup now becoming clearer as Tuchel finalises his plans.