Wendy Jacobs was a busy woman early Monday morning at Changi Airport's Terminal 3.

From making sure that her older sons Irfan and Ikhsan Fandi Ahmad had packed right for the cooler climate of Spain, to chatting with well-wishers and members of the media who came to see her boys off, Jacobs was at the centre of it all. Yet she took it all in her stride.

As the mother of two of Singapore's brightest footballing prospects, she is accustomed to juggling the role of chauffeur, doting mother to all five of her children, and head of the household - as husband Fandi is often away coaching in Malaysia.

Watching her sons bid goodbye to their school buddies, Jacobs felt a sense of pride at seeing her bigger boys take their first step towards realising their dream of playing professional football.

"Since young, they have displayed the passion to become professional footballers," she told The Straits Times.

"So Fandi and I sat down with them and they told us this is what they wanted.

"This is why Fandi and I invested in their training. We are still investing in them going overseas."

Yet it was not too long ago that life seemed bleak for the 39-year-old former model.

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