How Jude Bellingham’s mum helped him avoid World Cup BAN before England’s win over Norway
JUDE BELLINGHAM revealed mum Denise has been warning him all week to mind his behaviour to lessen the risk of a booking that would have ruled him out of the semi-final.
Superstar Bellingham was one of four England players on a yellow card in Saturday’s last-eight clash with Norway.
It meant that, had he been cautioned against old pal Erling Haaland and Co, he would have been banned from a potential semi-final.
Fortunately, Bellingham was note-perfect in the game, avoiding any punishment and scoring twice to send the Three Lions into the last four.
Speaking to the media after winning fourth player-of-the-match award of the tournament, the 23-year-old said: “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.”
Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly and Declan Rice were the other three England players at risk of suspension via another booking.
But fortunately, the trio followed suit with Bellingham in avoiding any cautions from referee Clement Turpin.
Real Madrid man Bellingham added: “To be honest, when you play the right way, and 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. So I think when I get the balance right, and there’s a referee who’s willing to listen, it makes it a lot easier.
A brace from Jude Bellingham cancelled out Andreas Schjelderup’s flukey opener as England were forced to go to extra-time in the extreme Miami heat.
Now a semi-final awaits as Thomas Tuchel’s men found a way to get the job done.
Here is how SunSport’s Tom Barclay rated England’s players live from Miami.
“And in the end, it was just a really well-competed game of football, and luckily I got through it.”
Despite England booking their place in the last four in the sweltering humidity of Miami, boss Thomas Tuchel was critical of the performance.
The German said his side made it “very difficult” for themselves and was “not happy with the performance – in every sense”.
He told ITV that his team were “sloppy” and made “a lot of technical mistakes”.
But Bellingham snapped back at his manager when Tuchel’s criticism was put to him.
The six-goal star said: “Maybe, but maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those kind of conditions against Erling Haaland, Odegaard, Nusa, Sorloth.
“That’s not an easy team to play against. So, I think we’ve tried to create a positive environment.
“We should continue that going into the final four. I can’t speak highly enough of the lads. 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.”
Asked about Tuchel saying England were “a tad lucky” to go through, tight-lipped Bellingham responded: “No comment.”
