Why can’t parents of footballers be like the mothers of the Moroccan NT in 2022? The coach invited them to stay with the players during the whole cup, during all matches and sometimes training, and it was a great idea, the once questionable moral of the squad was very very high. But at the same time they made sure to know how to manage it with the media, the mothers knew not to step during any interview or any social media, they appeared on images and clips but abstained from being nuisances. Imagine putting Rabiot and Mbappé’s mothers in the same room for longer than a minute lmao

Tangentially related, this is thought to be one of the reasons Suarez bit someone in the WC. He’d had his issues, obviously, but it was reported that seeing a sports psychologist was an FSG-mandated condition of his returning to play after his suspension. The counseling, anecdotally, seemed to improve his anger management abilities. His intensity on the pitch never wavered, but (iirc) his proclivity to pick up yellows for dumb shit like kicking balls away, went down significantly.

Then, the World Cup happens, he’s whisked away from Liverpool, his psychologist, and his support structure, and is told in so many words that the fate of the Uruguayan national team is on his shoulders. In that context, while in no way excusing his actions, it’s not necessarily that difficult to see why he relapsed.