It’s not every day another country’s athlete celebrates a win by quoting a former United States president.
England’s midfielder Jude Bellingham posted “The Man In the Arena” speech made by Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, following the team’s 2-1 Round of 16 win against Slovakia on Sunday.
Bellingham shared the famous speech on Instagram with the caption: “So proud of the boys tonight, we live to fight another day.”
The speech, which was delivered in Paris in 1910, read:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
“… But who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause.
“Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
The Real Madrid midfielder scored a bicycle kick goal — a critical equalizer — in the fifth minute of stoppage time, tying the game at 1-1 and saving England from what would have been a gut-wrenching defeat.
The 21-year-old mouthed “Who Else?” as he celebrated his acrobatic strike, which was England’s first shot on target the entire match.
“I think it was 20 seconds until we were out of the European Championship,” Bellingham said, per the Associated Press. “It’s hard to deny that it was one of the most important moments of my career so far.”
Bellingham is under investigation by the UEFA for allegedly “breaching the basic rules of decent conduct” after motioning to grab his crotch following his goal against Slovakia.
England’s momentum was evident as captain Harry Kane scored the winning goal with an impressive header in the first minute of extra time to secure England’s spot in the quarterfinal.
That was Kane’s 65th goal for England.
Throughout the match, English fans grew increasingly worried that this could be a repeat of their elimination at Euro 2016, where they suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat to Iceland.
Boos echoed throughout the stadium in the first half, as the team experienced no luck.
Phil Foden had a goal ruled out by VAR, Kane headed wide near the goal and Declan Rice hit the post in the 81st minute.
“I had a funny feeling the game wasn’t dead and I know that sounds ridiculous. We were pushing and probing,” England manager Gareth Southgate said. “Ultimately it is the one we have thrown in the box that got us the goal.”
“Playing for England is an enjoyable feeling but it’s also a lot of pressure,” Bellingham said in a post-match interview, according to ESPN.
“You hear people talk a lot of rubbish. It’s nice when you can deliver and give them a little bit back.”
England hasn’t won a major tournament since the World Cup in 1966, but this could be their shot.
The team will face Switzerland on Saturday in the quarterfinal.
