From here to maternity as rival comes to Delph’s rescue
Midfielder flew to birth on Kompany private jet Victory over Colombia sent wife into labour
Fabian Delph has revealed how one of his potential World Cup final opponents helped him get home for the birth of his daughter.
Midfielder Delph was given permission to leave the England camp after the Group G defeat by Belgium, and Manchester City team-mate Vincent Kompany came to his rescue.
Delph returned to the squad in time to make a substitute appearance in the quarter-final win over Sweden after the last-16 success against Colombia had helped his wife go into labour. “Vincent Kom- pany’s family came out for the Belgium game and I am close with him and the family, so I flew back with Vincent’s family on a private plane,” said Delph. “It was just me, his children and his wife. They had just beaten us, so I didn’t know whether to speak to them! He has three lovely kids and they were running about. On my way back I was just on my own on the plane.
“Fair play to the FA, who looked after me. Now I am really looking forward to Wednesday.” Not only did Eric Dier’s penalty clinch England’s progression past Colombia, it also sent Delph’s wife Natalie into labour. “It was actually that game that took her into labour,” he said. “During the game she was diving about [while] watching and she then went into hospital afterwards. She had the baby, I got back and had a session with the lads.
“For me personally it has been one of the best weeks of my life. If