Jude Bellingham has credited his mother Denise for delivering a crucial motivational speech that helped him avoid a yellow card and score twice as England defeated Norway to reach the World Cup semi-finals. The 23-year-old Real Madrid midfielder, now tied with Harry Kane on six goals in the tournament, struck twice in Miami as the Three Lions came from behind to eliminate Norway.
Mother's advice key to avoiding suspension
Bellingham, who was at risk of missing the semi-final if booked, explained: "My mum's been telling me all week to watch my language, watch my tackles, watch my face, watch my emotions. So yeah, I think she drilled it into me all week about being careful of that yellow card." He also praised the referee: "Credit to the referee, he was class, he still let you communicate in a respectful way. A lot of referees don't let you do that."
Bellingham's World Cup form beyond dreams
Bellingham, now a frontrunner for the Golden Ball and Golden Boot, admitted his form has exceeded expectations. "Probably a bit beyond, to be honest. I'm a confident boy, but I don't think you go to bed at night dreaming about games like that," he said. "It's nice to have an impact and to help my team. But my God, the effort of those lads in there. I'm so proud of how they keep battling."
Response to Tuchel's criticism
Bellingham appeared to disagree with Thomas Tuchel's honest assessment of England's performance, suggesting the manager may not fully appreciate the difficulty of facing Norway's stars. "Maybe he doesn't know what it's like to play in those kind of conditions against Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, Antonio Nusa, Alexander Sorloth. That's not an easy team to play against," Bellingham said. He added: "You're not going to win every game popping the ball and making 1,000 passes. Sometimes you have to win dirty, and we've done that again tonight."
Tougher than Mexico victory
Bellingham rated the win over Norway as tougher than England's previous victory against Mexico. "The game split into loads of different facets. Some of it's technical, tactical, and for me, the biggest one is psychological and how you can manage setbacks and adversity. This team showed yet again they can do it, and that's a really valuable trait going into the final four."
