FABIAN DELPH admits his wife felt like doing backflips when she heard he was heading to the World Cup.
Not because he was getting the chance to fulfil a childhood dream – but because Delph wouldn’t be hanging around their Cheshire home watching the games on TV.
The England ace has revealed that Natalie Delph and their two daughters Sophia and Aleya hate football.
And they couldn’t care less if he’s won or lost at Manchester City. He said: “I was at home when I found out I’d got picked. I got the text.
“Was I surprised? Not really. I thought I had a good chance of being involved, so I wouldn’t say I was surprised. I was over the moon.
“My oldest one was at school. I’ve got two daughters, a baby on the way and the missus – and they all hate football.
“They couldn’t care less. My daughters are devastated I’m going to be away. But the missus is buzzing! She almost did a backflip!
“They’re great and I’d probably prefer it to be like that. I finish a game and whether I played well or didn’t, I can switch off.”
An average close season for family man Delph is spending time with his young kids.
But he will instead be in Russia this summer with England after his surprise inclusion in Gareth Southgate’s 23-man squad.
Delph has reinvented himself as a left-back and helped Pep Guardiola’s men storm to the Premier League title.
But he has not pulled on an England shirt since
2015 due to a succession of ill-timed injuries and since then the Three
Lions have had three different managers.
He was in constant contact with Southgate, though, and admits the feeling of getting picked was in stark contrast to when he was axed from Roy Hodgson’s final squad for Euro 2016.
Delph said: “It’s like one extreme to the other really. I played in most of the England games in the buildup to the Euros and I was quite confident I would get a seat. “With the first season at City I wasn’t playing regularly, so I can completely understand why I didn’t make the final squad. And I was devastated.
“But I’ve always spoken to Gareth. He has been fantastic with me because he’s always so open-minded and knows what I can bring to the table in terms of being a team player. “I never put too much focus on it. I always focused on club football and then when the internationals came up I was fully focused on that. But then I’d pull out with a niggle and that seemed to happen all the time.
“But I’ve always been in contact with him (Gareth), so I always knew I’d have a chance.
“It’s not really sunk in yet but winning the Premier League and being included in this World Cup squad is huge for me.”
The Yorkshireman will spend the next two weeks packing his bags for what will be the first major tournament of his senior career at the age of 28.
One thing the Bradford-born star will be putting in his luggage will be his favourite tea to remind him of home.
He added: “I met my wife in Leeds and I’m from Bradford, so there’s only Yorkshire tea bags in my house. I forgot them once and she rang me saying, ‘You’ve forgot your tea bags.’ So yeah, I’ll be taking them to Russia 100 per cent.”