The first team warmed up in bright red bibs, the better to make them stand out from the rest. On the other side of the pitch, Jude Bellingham stood in a crouch in the centre of a rondo with the rest of the substitutes, ready to try to dispossess Dan Burn, Jarrod Bowen and Trevoh Chalobah.
When the England and Serbia players came out for the national anthem ahead of this redundant World Cup qualifying tie, Bellingham, of course, was not among them. He made his way to a seat behind the England dug-out and watched as the starters stood in a line. Some of the photographers trained their cameras on him rather than the first team.
Thomas Tuchel is choreographing Bellingham’s quest for his acceptance cleverly and in stages after he was absent for the stand-out victory of this campaign in Belgrade and then omitted for the most recent qualifier against Latvia in Riga, against a background of disquiet about his attitude.
The truth is Tuchel has played Bellingham like a violin. Few could argue with his decision to start Morgan Rogers in the number 10 role in England’s midfield. The Aston Villa midfielder has performed only with credit since he came into the side and it would have sent out entirely the wrong message to drop him.
Tuchel, in fact, has choreographed everything beautifully so far. Not for this England the down-to-the-wire dramas of last-gasp qualifications that the nation occasionally endured under the management of Glenn Hoddle and Sven Goran-Eriksson.
This time, qualification was achieved with a minimum of fuss and when there was a hint of pressure ahead of that away game against Serbia in Belgrade, Tuchel kept his nerve and coaxed a brilliant 5-0 win out of his side. That was the pivotal result in this campaign and in his management of England.
Thomas Tuchel is choreographing Jude Bellingham’s quest for his acceptance cleverly
Bellingham began England’s 2-0 victory over Serbia among the substitutes at Wembley
Tuchel kept Morgan Rogers in the No 10 role and it would have sent the wrong message to drop him
But for all the wise man-management of Bellingham, it still felt strange to see the lead actor banished to the wings. Bellingham has grown used to starring roles not bit parts. He is not a natural bench warmer. He was not playing in the number 10 role but, beneath his track suit top, he was wearing the number 10 shirt.
His name was cheered enthusiastically – more enthusiastically than anyone else’s – when it was read out before the kick-off but he could not respond. Bellingham is all about the drama. He is all about seizing the moment. But he could not seize the moment from the stand. He had been reduced to the ranks.
And so he sat there, as the rain fell in thick, steady sheets from the skies above north-west London and watched as England went about adding another victory to a campaign that brought them qualification for the World Cup two games early.
He watched a game that often seemed to be shorn of urgency, a game in which England showed far more intent and positivity than a Serbia side which still had everything to play for in its battle to reach the play-offs that are its last hope of making it to next summer’s tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
He watched as, just before the half hour, Bukayo Saka finally stirred the passions of the lifeless crowd when he volleyed home a clinical finish after Predrag Rajkovic’s punch had failed to clear Declan Rice’s free kick and debutant Nico O’Reilly had fired the ball back into the area.
He watched as Kane ran on to a deep corner from Rice, timing his run perfectly, heading the ball down beautifully but then watching with dismay as it bounced just wide. He watched as Marcus Rashford’s rebirth continued with a display that tormented Serbia right back Ognjen.
At half-time, one website ran a thumbs-up-thumbs-down poll on whether Tuchel should bring Bellingham on after the interval. There was a majority of thumb-downs. Tuchel agreed with them. Bellingham came out of the tunnel and returned to his seat in the stand.
A few minutes after half-time, Bellingham and the other substitutes began to warm up on the touchline. The television cameras picked out a boy in the crowd shaking a flag with great excitement in the stand. ‘Hey Jude,’ the writing on it said.
Bellingham watched from the sidelines as Bukayo Saka superbly opened the scoring
Saka clinically volleyed England ahead to stir some passion in a lifeless crowd at Wembley
Bellingham was introduced to the biggest cheer of the night when he came off the bench
The Real Madrid star was at the heart of everything straight away for the Three Lions
Time ticked on. England launched a lightning counter-attack forged by a blur of passes and movement between Kane, Rashford and Rogers that ended when Rogers lost his footing at the crucial moment. It was a reminder, though, of understandings that have been forged while Bellingham has been absent.
And then, in the 65th minute, after Dusan Vlahovic had wasted Serbia’s best chance of the game, a thrill of excitement ran around the ground when Bellingham took off his track-suit top and walked down the steps to the touchline, ready to come on with fellow substitutes Jordan Henderson, Eberechi Eze and Phil Foden.
When it was announced that Bellingham was coming on for Rogers, Bellingham’s name got the biggest cheer of the night. He galloped on. It was the first time he had appeared for England since he played in the 3-1 defeat to Senegal at the City Ground on June 10.
Bellingham was at the heart of everything straight away, swapping passes with Henderson then curling in a difficult cross for Rajkovic to gather.
Better was to come. His impact galvanised the crowd and the team. Suddenly, England were brimming with intent. Bellingham played a short ball to Reece James, James directed an extravagant flick back into his path and Bellingham’s cross for Eze was cut out at the last moment, just as he was about to steer it into the net.
It was not all sublime. A quarter of an hour from the end, Bellingham cut inside and ballooned a wild shot high into Row Z. But a few minutes from the end, it was the Real Madrid midfielder leading the charge again, bursting forward, and forging a move that ended with Eze hitting the bar.
He played a part, too, in a stunning late goal by Eze, feeding the ball to Foden for the Arsenal forward to curl a brilliant shot high past the goalkeeper into the top corner to give England a 2-0 victory. England, indisputably, were better after Bellingham’s introduction.
Eberechi Eze curled a brilliant shot high into the net to seal a 2-0 victory in the closing stages
Foden laid the ball into Eze’s path as the Man City star made his own contribution off the bench
It was hardly a stirring night but Bellingham’s return gave it real significance. Let’s be honest about what it was. It was the first step in his rehabilitation. It was the first step in his attempt to convince a manager, who has developed doubts about him, of his worth.
Tuchel had sent Bellingham a message when he selected him for the squad. ‘It’s, make sure you keep this thing going and make sure you accelerate the thing because we have something going here. We are building something, we are super-excited that you are back, but the message is — contribute to it.’
Bellingham heeded the message. He acted. He vindicated the way Tuchel has dealt with him and responded in the best possible way. The World Cup is still a long way away but last night, Bellingham staked his claim again for a place in the first team.
