There are some things you never quite outgrow, and being told by your mom to watch your language is apparently one of them.
Just ask Jude Bellingham. The 23-year-old England soccer star had quite a night on Saturday, scoring both goals in his country's dramatic 2-1 extra-time World Cup quarter-final victory over Norway and sending England through to face Argentina in the semifinals.
Yet, behind his heroic performance was a familiar voice offering some very familiar advice: his mom's.
Bellingham entered the match knowing that another yellow card would rule him out of the semifinal, a particularly frustrating prospect when your team is potentially just two matches away from lifting the World Cup. His mother, Denise, had apparently spent the week making absolutely sure her son understood the situation.
“My mum was telling me all week to watch my language, watch my tackles, watch my face, watch my emotions,” Bellingham explained after the match, adding that she had “drilled it into me all week” to be careful about that yellow card.
In other words, behave yourself, Jude.
And, thankfully for England fans, he did. Bellingham avoided the dreaded booking, while also finding time to score twice and carry England into a World Cup semifinal. Not a bad evening for a young man who listened to his mother.
A mom who knows her son
Of course, Denise Bellingham's influence on her eldest son goes far beyond a timely reminder to control his temper on the soccer field. She has played a central role in his extraordinary career, moving abroad as he pursued his soccer dreams in Germany and later Spain, while Jude's father, Mark, remained in England supporting the career of their younger son, Jobe.
And for all Bellingham's fame and success, he has made no secret of the importance of having his mom close by. As England's website shared, he has previously credited her with keeping his feet firmly on the ground, saying that without her he might get “too low with the lows or too high with the highs.”
“I stay pretty humble because I've got her around,” he has pointed out. He also added that she's “a great laugh,” which perhaps explains why their relationship seems to have retained such an appealing normality despite the rather extraordinary life her son now leads.
The superpowers of moms
Perhaps that's one of the quiet superpowers of moms. We know our children in a way that no coach, colleague, friend, or adoring fan ever quite can. We know which particular weakness might trip them up, when they need encouraging, and when they simply need someone to tell them to watch their face.
And while our children may grow taller than us, travel the world, build careers, or even become international soccer stars, a mother's advice has a remarkable way of following them.
Of course, sometimes they ignore it -- after all that's another fairly universal feature of motherhood. Yet every now and then, they listen at precisely the right moment. And maybe that's what helps us to keep on going.
The Catholic Church has the ultimate example of maternal perseverance in St. Monica, who prayed for her wayward son Augustine for years before his conversion. Admittedly, most moms are simply hoping for a text back or a little less swearing, but the principle isn't entirely dissimilar.
So, as England prepares to face Argentina, fans will once again be looking to Bellingham to produce a little magic. But perhaps Denise deserves a small share of the credit for making sure he'll actually be on the field.
After all, England may have a world-class midfielder. But even a champion soccer player sometimes needs his mom to tell him to watch his mouth.
