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What these two pictures tell us about Jude Bellingham's attitude to football

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What these two pictures tell us about Jude Bellingham's attitude to football

It was impossible to know what Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham said when he approached Harry Kane as the Bayern Munich striker prepared to take a penalty in Tuesday evening’s Champions League semi-final first leg.

Whatever the precise words, it was very unlikely that Bellingham was wishing his international team-mate the best of luck, and referee Clement Turpin had to intervene to tell the midfielder to get out of the way.

Not that Kane was unduly concerned. In his initial post-match interview with TNT Sport, the game’s UK broadcaster, the England captain said he hadn’t heard what Bellingham said. It wasn’t until after the final whistle that Bellingham revealed all. 

“I spoke to him after and he said: ‘I know you’re going to go left of the keeper’,” said Kane. “But it was nice for me because I saw the keeper go a little bit early and I put it away.”

It was hardly incendiary stuff, and there is unlikely to be any lasting rancour between two players who had greeted each other warmly before kick-off. Yet the contrast between the image of Bellingham whispering in Kane’s ear in an effort to gain an advantage for his club and the picture of him putting his arm around the same player moments after he had missed a crucial late penalty against France in England’s 2022 World Cup quarter-finals defeat could not have been greater.


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They also speak to two sides of Bellingham’s personality, both of which have been evident in what is his debut season in Spain. There have never been any doubts regarding strength of character – his penchant for late goals, including in both La Liga Clasicos against Barcelona, is testament to that.

While clearly enjoying the attention coming his way from his new club’s fans, Bellingham has also been praised for sharing the limelight: take, for example, his instruction for fans to applaud Fede Valverde for setting him up to score against Osasuna in October.

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He also provided a very unselfish assist for striker Joselu the following month, subsequently explaining that he wanted to help out a team-mate who had been going through a rough spell in front of goal.

This looked like exceptional emotional intelligence and personal maturity, and helped make Bellingham phenomenally popular with Madrid players and supporters alike.

His gesture to Kane following that World Cup quarter-final penalty was significant, too. Bellingham – then aged just 19 – was the only member of the England side to console their captain after he failed to equalise in the 84th minute of what ended as a 2-1 loss, and it spoke to a maturity beyond his years.


Jude Bellingham consoles Harry Kane (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

The flipside to all this, however, is that Bellingham can also come close to the line – or even cross it – when things are not going so well either for him personally or for his team.

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That was already signalled during his time at previous club Borussia Dortmund, when Bellingham was known to feel that some team-mates did not reach his own high standards — especially when they threw away a great chance to win the German title in May last year.

Bellingham’s patience with Spanish referees also wore thin quite quickly. He felt he was not receiving enough protection as defenders used any methods they could to limit his influence on games.

He picked up four yellow cards in six games through January and February, mostly for either dissent or ‘revenge’ fouls, serving a punishment for accumulation of bookings. Then came his most high-profile run-in with officialdom, when he was red-carded for furious protests after referee Jesus Gil Manzano whistled for full time just as he thought he had scored another late winner in a La Liga game against Valencia in early March.

Bellingham was still raging as he left the pitch that night, quickly reposting an Instagram message which said: “The referee literally waited for Brahim Diaz to cross the ball! THIS IS A SCANDAL.” He quickly removed that message from his account, but he was still banned for three matches.

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There was also the incident when Madrid played neighbours Getafe in early February, and Bellingham clashed with fellow Englishman Mason Greenwood, during a bad-tempered game against a physical team.

Getafe claimed that Bellingham had made an “offensive remark” to Greenwood, who joined the La Liga club on a season-long loan from Manchester United at the end of last summer’s transfer window. Greenwood had seen charges of attempted rape, assault, and coercive control dropped by the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in February 2023. He denied all the alleged offences.

After a lip reader was consulted, the Spanish FA (RFEF) said no credible evidence of what Bellingham allegedly said to Greenwood had been found, and the case was dismissed.

Bellingham received total backing from Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti and the club hierarchy after both the Greenwood and Mestalla incidents, and everyone at the Bernabeu has been keen to look after their latest emerging superstar.

Fans of the club will also not be worried about any signs of being a bad loser, or even his taste for gamesmanship. Both fit perfectly with Madrid’s self-image as a place where winning is the most important thing (even as it goes against the ‘gentlemanly’ values that they also boast of).

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Jude Bellingham does not lack confidence (Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

Bellingham’s career has been on warp speed so far – from becoming Birmingham City’s youngest first-team player just past his 16th birthday, to moving to Germany as the most expensive 17-year-old in history, playing for England at two international tournaments while still a teenager, and now making such a sensational start with Madrid.

All this brings attention and pressure. Bellingham has mostly shown he can handle it, and channel whatever he is feeling into spectacular performances and moments for his team. Still, for all his many talents, he is not Superman, and there have been signs lately that he is feeling the strains of his incredible first season in Spain.

He struggled to make an impact during the two Champions League quarter-final legs recently against Manchester City. And while he followed that with the last-gasp El Clasico winner 10 days ago, he was quiet again last night in his first game in Germany since leaving Dortmund.

“Jude didn’t play at his best today, but he will be back very soon,” said Ancelotti, who also revealed Bellingham had been withdrawn because he was suffering from cramp. “He will be 100 per cent by Wednesday (the second leg at the Bernabeu next week).”

Could Bellingham’s character lead to behaviour that might be better controlled? Maybe. And s***housing your national captain in a Champions League semi-final is probably not the wisest idea.

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But if Bellingham’s career has taught us anything, it is that he will do things his way.

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(Top photos: TNT Sports and Getty Images)

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Commentary: Seahawks remind Rams that even one bizarre play can unravel a charmed season

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Commentary: Seahawks remind Rams that even one bizarre play can unravel a charmed season

In a matter of minutes, the home of the Seattle Seahawks went from a painfully quiet Lumen “Library” to a rollicking madhouse that sent seismologists scrambling for their ground-motion sensors.

Call it the Sheesh-Quake Game.

In a historic comeback, the Seahawks dug their way out of a 16-point, fourth-quarter ditch to beat the Rams in overtime, 38-37.

Oh, the visitors will agonize over some of the bizarre calls, some deserving of further explanation from the NFL. An ineligible-man-downfield call that wiped out a Rams touchdown when they were a yard away from the end zone? That had people scratching their heads. Then there was that do-or-die two-point conversion that seemingly fell incomplete… but later was reversed. More on that in a moment.

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Gary Klein breaks down what went wrong for the Rams in their 38-37 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on Thursday night.

When the Rams wincingly rewind the video of the collapse, they’ll be peering through the cracks in their fingers.

You’ve heard of a no-look pass? This was a no-look finish.

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As soothing wins go, this was a warm bubble bath for the Seahawks, who secured a playoff berth and assumed the driver’s seat in the race for the NFC’s No. 1 seed.

“You hear people late in the year have losses, and you hear people come up here and say, like, ‘Man, this is going to be a good thing for us,’” said Seahawks receiver Cooper Kupp, a onetime Rams hero. “It’s much better to be up here right now saying this is going to be a good thing for us.”

Kupp atoned for his first-half fumble with a successful two-point conversion in the fourth quarter — the first of three in a row for the Seahawks — and a 21-yard reception on the winning drive in overtime.

“If you find a way to get a win when you do turn the ball over three times, you do end up down 16 points, or whatever it was, in the fourth quarter, just finding ways to win games when the odds are against you and things aren’t going right — finding a way to fight back — it’s going to be a good thing for us,” Kupp said. “A good thing for us to draw on.”

The Rams are sifting through the debris of a different lesson. It was a reminder that this charmed season, with Matthew Stafford in line to win his first Most Valuable Player honor, can come crashing down at any moment. There’s no more smooth glide path to Santa Clara for the Super Bowl.

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As good as it was for most of the game, picking off Sam Darnold twice and sacking him four times, the Rams defense failed to hold up when it counted most. Shades of the three-point loss at Carolina.

Darnold will have a story to tell. He exorcised a lot of demons. The Rams sacked him nine times in the playoffs last season when Darnold was playing for Minnesota, and intercepted six of his passes in two games this season.

“It’s not great when you have interceptions and turnovers, you want to limit that,” said Darnold, the former USC star. “But all you can do is fight back. For us, I was just going to continue to plug away.”

Darnold came through when it counted, completing five passes on the winning drive, then finding the obscure tight end Eric Saubert — his fourth option — wide open in the end zone on the triumphant conversion.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold looks to pass against the Rams in the first half Thursday.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold looks to pass against the Rams in the first half Thursday.

(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)

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The second of the three conversions was the game’s most controversial moment. The Seahawks needed it to forge a 30-30 tie with a little more than six minutes remaining in regulation.

Darnold fired a quick screen pass to his left, trying to get the ball to Zach Charbonnet. Rams defender Jared Verse jumped the route and knocked down the pass. Everyone thought the play was dead, including Charbonnet, who casually jogged across the goal line and picked up the ball as it lay in the end zone.

That proved critical because officials — after what seemed like an eternity — ruled that Darnold had thrown a backward pass and the ball was live when Charbonnet picked it up. Therefore, a fumble recovery and successful conversion, tying the game.

Asked later if it felt like a backward pass, Darnold had a half-smile and said, “Um, yeah. It felt like I threw it kind of right on the side. I’m glad Charbs picked it up, and that turned out to be a game-changing play.”

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Was that designed to be a backward pass?

“It just happened to be backwards,” he said. “It wasn’t necessarily talked about. We were just trying to get it in down there on the goal line.”

The Seahawks were lined up to kick off when officials announced that, upon review, the previous play was successful. Suddenly, the most improbable of come-from-victories was within reach.

Earlier in the fourth quarter, when the home team was trailing, 30-14, the Amazon Prime crew had to do some vamping to keep viewers engaged. Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit told some Kurt Warner stories from the “Greatest Show on Turf” days. Hey, it had to be more interesting than this game.

Michaels delivered an obscure stat: When leading by 15 points or more in the fourth quarter, the Rams were 323-1.

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Informed of that, Seahawks running back Cam Akers — once shown the door by the Rams — had a wry response.

“Now, they’ve lost two,” he said.

Celebration in one locker room. Silence in another.

Do you believe in meltdowns?

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Sherrone Moore appears red-eyed in booking photo after Michigan firing, arrest

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Sherrone Moore appears red-eyed in booking photo after Michigan firing, arrest

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Sherrone Moore’s booking photo was released about a week after the former Michigan Wolverines football coach was fired from his job and arrested on several charges.

Fox News Digital obtained the booking photo of Moore on Thursday. The picture showed a red-eyed Moore appearing downcast in the Washtenaw County Jail in Michigan.

 

Sherrone Moore’s booking photo was obtained by Fox News Digital on Dec. 18, 2025. (Washtenaw County Jail)

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The photo’s release came as new details emerged in the Moore scandal, including allegations that he “had a long history of domestic violence” against the staffer with whom he allegedly maintained an inappropriate, yearslong relationship.

Court documents obtained by Fox News Digital revealed allegations made by the staffer’s attorney, Heidi Sharp, on the day that Moore allegedly entered her home without permission, which later resulted in his arrest.

Moore appeared in a Washtenaw County court on Friday, where his bond was set at $25,000 and included several conditions, including no contact with the alleged victim in the case. A not guilty plea was entered for him.

Prosecutors detailed the alleged events that led up to Moore’s arrest, including that Moore had engaged in an “intimate relationship” with the Michigan staffer for “a number of years” and that the woman had broken up with him two days before his arrest.

Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore appears via video in court in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Dec. 12, 2025. (Ryan Sun/AP Photo)

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Prosecutors accused Moore of contacting the staffer via phone calls and texts after the breakup, prompting the victim to contact the University of Michigan and cooperate in its investigation. Moore was subsequently fired from his position as head football coach, which prosecutors said prompted him to show up at the woman’s home. 

Moore then allegedly “barged” his way into the residence, grabbed a butter knife and a pair of scissors and then began threatening his own life. According to prosecutors, Moore allegedly told the staffer, “My blood is on your hands” and “You ruined my life.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Moore’s attorney for comment.

Moore faces a felony charge of home invasion in the third degree and two misdemeanor charges of stalking and breaking and entering without the owner’s permission. He was released on bond and is due back in court on Jan. 22.

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Sherrone Moore, then-of the Michigan Wolverines, looks on during the second half against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium on November 22, 2025 in College Park, Maryland. (Chris Bernacchi/Diamond Images via Getty Images)

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Moore took over as head coach for Jim Harbaugh when he left to take the Los Angeles Chargers’ job.

Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

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High school basketball: Boys’ and girls’ scores from Wednesday, Dec. 17

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High school basketball: Boys’ and girls’ scores from Wednesday, Dec. 17

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

BOYS
CITY SECTION
AMIT 59, Sun Valley Magnet 38
Bernstein 71, Contreras 26
Crenshaw 55, King/Drew 39
Fulton 50, Vaughn 48
Hollywood 104, Belmont 10
LA Hamilton 71, Downtown Magnets 69
MSAR 67, Valor Academy 56
MSCP 84, Larchmont Charter 25
Northridge Academy 59, VAAS 12
Orthopaedic 69, Animo Bunche 34
RFK Community 73, Jefferson 70
Royal 54, Mendez 52
View Park 55, Bell 48
Wilmington Banning 62, Elizabeth 26

SOUTHERN SECTION
Arroyo 54, South El Monte 50
Chadwick 91, Paramount 63
Damien 66, Aquinas 41
Downey 57, Workman 22
Edgewood 52, West Covina 43
Flintridge Prep 80, ISLA 15
Gabrielino 91, Mountain View 46
Garden Grove 58, Irvine University 56
Hemet 56, Valley View 55
Highland 68, Lancaster 34
Hillcrest 57, Orange Vista 56
Indian Springs 64, Citrus Valley 55
Laguna Beach 70, Costa Mesa 46
Lakeside 54, Canyon Springs 50
La Palma 69, Westminster 18
Maricopa 47, Laton 17
Moreno Valley 52, Arlington 42
North Torrance 75, Bellflower 30
Pasadena Marshal 75, El Monte 51
Peninsula 65, Redondo Union 63
Perris 63, Riverside North 62
Pilgrim 71, Westmark 39
Public Safety Academy 51, River Springs Charter 44
Quartz Hill 76, Antelope Valley 44
Redondo Union 76, Peninsula 18
Riverside King 61, Chaparral 55
Riverside Poly 54, Liberty 43
Samueli Academy 49, Bolsa Grande 48
San Fernando Academy 71, Summit View 19
Segerstrom 66, Loara 38
Sierra Vista 62, Covina 58
Temple City 51, El Rancho 46
Thousand Oaks 65, Shalhevet 38
Torrance 76, El Segundo 37
Vista del Lago 57, Heritage 51

INTERSECTIONAL
Dorsey 60, Lawndale 55
Grace 68, Panorama 34
LA Roosevelt 42, Alhambra 39
San Gabriel 50, Maywood CES 23
Westchester 48, Compton Centennial 36

GIRLS
CITY SECTION
AMIT 25, Sun Valley Magnet 20
Bernstein 56, Contreras 13
Cleveland 64, North Hollywood 24
Hollywood 63, Belmont 13
King/Drew 60, Crenshaw 12
Larchmont Charter 36, MSCP 33
MSAR 42, Valor Academy 29
Orthopaedic 28, Animo Bunche 5
Rancho Dominguez 31, Elizabeth 20
South East 51, Lakeview Charter 23
Washington 65, Fremont 10

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SOUTHERN SECTION
Agoura 65, Simi Valley 38
Buena Park 78, Westminster 29
Citrus Valley 43, Indio 24
Covina 56, Garey 25
CSDR 71, Victor Valley 33
El Modena 37, Edison 29
Flintridge Prep 85, Westridge 9
Gabrielino 81, Mountain View 4
Hemet 51, Valley View 24
Jurupa Valley 29, Indian Springs 20
Knight 81, Littlerock 8
Lancaster 60, Highland 40
Laton 29, Maricopa 8
Liberty 59, Citrus Hill 28
Los Altos 59, Anaheim 42
Los Amigos 39, Saddleback 19
Mira Costa 54, West Torrance 50
Newbury Park 53, Oxnard Pacifica 34
Oxnard 50, Santa Paula 42
Quartz Hill 57, Antelope Valley 18
Rancho Verde 46, Perris 19
Ramona 56, Gahr 29
Rancho Christian 100, Heritage 41
Riverside North 47, Vista del Lago 34
Riverside King 63, Xaxier Prep 38
Riverside Poly 73, Paloma Valley 38
River Springs Charter 35, Public Safety Academy 15
San Gabriel 46, Edgewood 26
San Gabriel Academy 63, Compton Centennial 62
Savanna 52, Costa Mesa 38
South El Monte 24, Arroyo 21
Thousand Oaks 69, Shalhevet 39
Torrance 74, El Segundo 36
Upland 44, Rosemead 27
Woodbridge 48, Century 6
Yorba Linda 64, Placentia Valencia 44

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