Jessica McDonald

Jessica McDonald is the lone mom on the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team that won the World Cup Sunday in a match against the Netherlands.

McDonald also happens to be a player for the NC Courage, the professional women's soccer team that plays in Cary, and a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate. .

"It has changed in many ways because I am taking care of another human being," she said. "Since I am a mom and professional athlete, I feel as if I have something more to prove. So, it forces my mindset to do better and better each day as a mom and as a pro footballer."

During the World Cup, McDonald's son, 7 years old has been with his mom in France. Their reunion one day in June went viral. On Sunday, McDonald took a moment on the field to celebrate her win with her little boy, writing simply, "We did it, bud!!!"

Jessica McDonald celebrated with her teammates after beating the Netherlands on Sunday to win the World Cup, making history.

But after that McDonald, 31, the only mom of 23 athletes on the U.S. World Cup Team, had a very special little man to celebrate with. Her 7-year-old son, Jeremiah, has been with her the entire journey to victory and came with her to France.

"He doesn’t fully understand, but at least he’s an age right now where he’s actually going to remember this," McDonald, who hails from Phoenix, told The Associated Press. "He’s going to look back and be like, 'Wow, I was there. Wow, my mom is actually cool – like she said.' "

When the team was two days from playing the Netherlands, McDonald posted a photo of the two of them on Instagram captioned, "Two days out, bud! us."

Hours after their 2-0 victory, Jeremiah is shown sprinkling her with confetti. She captioned the post, "We did it, bud!!! 🇺🇸 #WorldChamps."

Her fellow teammates have been in awe of how McDonald manages to raise a son and compete at such a high level.

"She’s always talking about how early she has to wake up to make sure Jeremiah is taken care of," left back Crystal Dunn told AP. “I wake 10 minutes before training and I’m annoyed training gets pushed up earlier and earlier."

Dunn spoke admiringly of McDonald's ability to balance life.

"Hopefully, going forward, more women choose her route and not feel like they have to choose their career over having a family. I think the new generation is going to feel like they have the option of doing both."

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/.../world-cup.../1669360001/...