Tottenham: James Maddison loves Jude Bellingham post after England heroics vs Mexico
Tottenham Hotspur star James Maddison has found one description of Jude Bellingham's England performance against Mexico particularly amusing.
The 29-year-old, like so many across the nation, will have been glued to his television screen throughout the early hours of Monday morning, as England recorded a famous World Cup win over Mexico.
England silenced all the noise around altitude concerns at the Azteca, and indeed Mexico's amazing record there, with a gruelling, hard-fought 3-2 win.
Having been capped seven times for England at senior level, Maddison will no doubt feel as though he could well have been a part of Thomas Tuchel's squad at the World Cup if he'd been fit last season.
At 29 though, the Spurs star may yet still get the chance to represent the Three Lions at a major tournament in 2028, when the European Championships are played across the UK and Ireland.
For now though, he'll continue to be roaring Tuchel's team on to go all the way this summer, and he particularly enjoyed one clever play on words to describe Bellingham's role in England's Azteca triumph.
James Maddison reacts to Bellingham wordplay
If there's one thing about football fans, it's that they're quick when it comes to creating nicknames and crafting wordplay.
Tabloid writers will no doubt be having a field day when it comes to formulating a headline to summarise England's win over Mexico, with endless possibilities for shrewd puns awaiting them.
Maddison has been getting in on the fun in this regard too, as seen via his Instagram story shortly after the Three Lions' Round-of-16 victory.
Sharing a post from England's official Instagram page marking Bellingham's two goals against Mexico, the Lilywhites midfielder responded by spotlighting an admittedly lovely play on words regarding the Three Lions star.
"Best tweet of all time: Mexico couldn't handle the Altijude," Maddison wrote, accompanied by crying laughing emojis and white love hearts.
Indeed, this 'altijude' pun has been doing the rounds on social media over recent hours, with there inevitably being one furious headline writer out there who had that one stored away only to see fans getting there first.
Maddison would've ticked many of Tuchel's England boxes
Given he was only able to return from his ACL injury in the final weeks of last season, Maddison was never going to be in contention to make England's World Cup squad this summer.
That being said, Tuchel has shown a clear preference for selecting players who are versatile and bring numerous different traits to his team.
Maddison, then, would surely tick plenty of his boxes in that regard, as the Tottenham maestro can operate as either a 10 or as an eight, and could no doubt do a job as a quarterback-like six if required as well.
On top of that, his quality from set-pieces, both by way of deliveries from corners and his ability to curl home a free-kick, would've seen the England boss put further ticks next to his name.
So, with Tuchel now signed on as England manager until the summer of 2028, should Maddison stay fit and get back to his best, then there's every chance he could be part of his plans in the build-up to the Euros in two years' time.