BLUE-EYED BOY TO MAIN MAN
MOUNT’S UP FOR CUP:
ITWAS gone 11pm, but still the enthralled 13-year-old sat in front of the television, drinking in the scenes before him through tired eyes.
Dad Tony and mum Debbie had driven the young boy to training sessions with Chelsea since he was seven.
They were with him as he watched John Terry, in full kit including shin pads, lift the trophy for the west London club after Didier Drogba had crowned his late equaliser by scoring the decisive shootout penalty to edge out Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in 2012.
None of the family could have possibly known that the events on the screen in front of them were going to shape a young life in quite the way it did.
And yet Wednesday night, the culmination of that journey lies just 90 minutes away. That young boy on the couch was Mason Mount and this week his late goal sealed a famous semi-final win against Real Madrid to present him with that chance to emulate his childhood heroes.
“I was at home in my front room, watching the game with my family,” Mount recalled. “My dad let me stay up and watch the game. It was unbelievable to watch, to see the atmosphere, to see the celebrations and to see the legends that were at this club achieve greatness.
“For me, it started that dream of me wanting to do it and I want to do it with this team. Now we have given ourselves a great opportunity to achieve it.
“With the team we have and with the group we have, the staff and the feeling we have, the confidence we have, we know we can do it. It’s one more game but it’s going to be a very tough one.”
Chelsea looked good for their win against Real over the course of both legs.Yet all the time the Spanish giants were just one goal away from forcing extratime at Stamford Bridge, you could feel the tension.
Mount had already missed one good chance – as had Kai Havertz and N’Golo Kante – so there was a euphoric outpouring of relief when the 22-year-old forced Christian Pulisic’s cross over the line to secure Chelsea’s place in the final against Manchester City in Istanbul on May 29. “You could see by the celebrations how much it meant to everyone, and how close the game was still at that time,” said Mount. “One goal from them, an away goal, and we’re going into extra-time. So to get that second goal and finish the game off brought a lot of relief and the celebrations said it all. “I was just gutted we couldn’t share this moment with the fans because it would have been a special, special moment. It’s still a special moment but it would have been extra special. Hopefully that time will come.” And maybe Mount will be able to conjure something even better in the final to inspire the next generation.