Jude Bellingham explains ‘wolf’ celebration after Serbia win
Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold celebrated England‘s opening goal at Euro 2024 last night with a reference to Werewolf, a card game played by the squad.
The team-mates dropped to one knee after Bellingham’s goal that gave England the lead against Serbia, and while facing each other covered their face with one hand.
Bellingham, 20, explained after the game in Gelsenkirchen that it was a reference to the game of Wolf – or Werewolf as it is also known – which the England team have been playing since around the time of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
It is a card game that requires deceit and strategic thinking and is based on a game of a game of roleplay and deduction called Mafia created by Dimitry Davidoff in 1986.
It sets a small informed group – the ‘wolves‘ – against the uninformed majority, also known as the ‘villagers’. Each group then tries to deceive the other in order to win.
Speaking to the BBC as he collected his player of the match award, Bellingham said: ‘When we play Wolf, one of the staff loves that face when he doesn’t have a clue what is going on so that was a little group celebration for the Wolf crew.’
England’s Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander Arnold debuted their new celebration during the Three Lions’ 1-0 win against Serbia
The duo both faced dropped to one knee before placing a splayed hand over their face
Speaking at the press conference after the game, Bellingham added: ‘It was more of a celebration for the backroom staff who put in so much work every day, and they won’t receive any awards like this or have the moments we get to have on the pitch.
‘But we value them so much and it is important going through the tournament we keep that atmosphere.’
It is believed that the celebration was in fact for England photographer Eddie Keogh.
The goal came at the start of what was far from a perfect performance from Gareth Southgate’s side as they had to suffer for long periods of the second-half on the way to their win.
But Bellingham was ever impressive, always available for the ball and driving the team forward whenever he could.
The Real Madrid midfielder capped off his performance with a goal in the first-half as his late run into the box saw him arrive perfectly to head home from close range.
Bellingham’s late dart into the box saw him power home a header after 13 minutes in what would turn out to be the only goal of the match
He marked England’s opening goal of Euro 2024 with his trademark celebration
Fans have grown accustomed to his celebration of standing upright with his arms aloft to the fans, as they often recreate the same pose.
But this time there was a new one to enjoy as he celebrated opening the scoring.
After his goal, Bellingham was mobbed by his team mates and struck the usual pose, but as the team returned to the half-way line Bellingham and Alexander-Arnold did the ‘wolf’ celebration.
It may well be the birth of another iconic celebration from the England man if he carries on his red hot form in front of goal.
Speaking about the England camp playing Wolf back at the World Cup in 2022, Harry Kane said: ‘There are about 16 or 17 of us who play Wolf and it is a great way to kill some time. It also helps with team bonding.
England celebrated the opening goal as a group after Bellingham had opened the scoring
Alexander-Arnold lauded the goalscorer after he was mobbed by his teammates
There was plenty of celebrations from the Real Madrid midfielder who also fitted in a knee slide
‘When they put that wolf card in, you have to start lying and it is not easy, so I think I am a better villager than I am a wolf.
‘There are definitely a few who are better than me at deceiving people.’
Declan Rice added: ‘It’s about being the best liar. The villagers have got to sniff out the wolves and the wolves have got to lie and tell everyone they are not a wolf. There is a lot of teamwork, ganging up.’
It would appear that the game has followed the England squad to this year’s European Championships and they will be hoping that the team bonding it creates can inspire them to winning it all, having come so close three years ago.
The win put England top of Group C after Denmark and Slovenia earlier played out a 1-1 draw.
The Three Lions next game is against Denmark at 5pm on Thursday in Frankfurt, before the group stage comes to a close against Slovenia at 8pm on 25 June.
