Families divided by football allegiances are preparing for England’s blockbuster World Cup quarter-final against France on Saturday, with mother-daughter relationships and boastful Kylian Mbappe emails adding intrigue to the spectacle. The winner of the game between Gareth Southgate’s side and Didier Deschamps’ 2018 winners will go into the semi-finals in Qatar with every chance of lifting the trophy.
The contest on the pitch will not be the only clash, with some families preparing for the “light-hearted rivalry” that only comes with divided national loyalties. Alexia Leachman, 48, grew up in Cardiff but is also French and now lives in Uzes in the south of France – her two daughters, Lila, 12, and Sofia, eight, are both English, however, and big football fans also.
“I’m Welsh but I’m also French, I’m dual national, so I feel very French and I feel very Welsh, but I do not feel English at all,” Ms Leachman, author of Clear Your Head Trash, told the PA news agency. She said her daughters are “both really into football” and said that while she expects some “very good-hearted” banter, she will not be doing any “mollycoddling” no matter the result.
“I’ll be kind of supporting England but (for Saturday) I really haven’t decided which one I’m going to do, I’m torn, totally torn, because I don’t really care for England winning!
“I think they’re just going to lay into me, a bit of banter, very good-hearted. I’ll just annoy them and I’ll go with whoever wins … we’ll see what happens!"
Meanwhile, Tom Thewlis, 30, from Oxford, has been enjoying some stick from his French uncle, who believes the daunting prospect of France’s Kylian Mbappe – the tournament’s top scorer – will prove too much for England right-back Kyle Walker. He told the PA: “My uncle is a bit of a joker. He’s always kind of put the boot in, particularly when we were knocked out in the semis in Russia (2018).
“He’s already been emailing me this week talking to me about how Kylian Mbappe’s going to have the last laugh over Kyle Walker, all that kind of thing, and just sort of a general exchange of banter."
Mr Thewlis – who goes to see his French family every year – described the banter as a “light-hearted rivalry” and said it adds a bit of extra meaning to a game he is “quietly confident” about.
"If France were to win on Saturday, he won't let me hear the end of it when I go over there next summer.
“I’m quietly confident, I’ve got a funny feeling about it – there’s just something about this group, a young group of players that seem to not take themselves too seriously. There’s a lot of belief there.”
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