Oh baby... I wouldn’t miss this match for anything – even you
SWEDEN’S captain will surely feel a little foolish if his team are beaten by England in today’s World Cup quarter final.
For Andreas Granqvist decided to skip the birth of his daughter in order to play in a match that is the biggest for both sides in more than two decades.
Granqvist insisted Sofie, his wife, had given him permission to play for his country rather than attend the birth. By contrast, Fabian Delph, 28, the Manchester City midfielder, was told to go home for the birth of his third child on Wednesday morning, missing the win against Colombia.
Gareth Southgate, the England manager, had encouraged Delph to return, explaining last week: “Everybody says you only get one chance to be in a World Cup, but also there’s only one day in your life when your children are born.”
England’s policy would be tested if Kate Goodland, Harry Kane’s fiancée, went into labour early. She is due to give birth to their second child at the end of the month.
Granqvist’s second child was born just 24 hours before the match. The couple announced the birth on Instagram, his wife posting pictures of herself with Mika, their new daughter. They will be the first Granqvist, 33, sees of the baby until he returns home.
At a press conference yesterday, Granqvist said: “It was good timing. I didn’t sleep very much last night, so I’m glad that it’s happened now. My wife did a wonderful job back home. Everything went well. Both baby, my daughter, and wife are doing really well.” He added: “It’s quite simple, getting a daughter is the most beautiful thing you can get.”
Bryan Robson, the England midfielder at World Cup 1982, had a similar dilemma. Robson decided to stay on in Spain, scoring against France just as his wife was in labour.
As many as 5,000 fans have made the arduous, expensive trek to Samara, 700 miles from Moscow, to attend the game and up to 30million could watch on BBC television – giving retailers a sales boost. Asda has launched “Operation It’s coming home” and expects to sell 8.5million sausages over the weekend. Tesco will shift four million burgers, three million punnets of strawberries and 50million bottles and cans of beer.
M&S is predicting it will sell 2.26million sausages and one million burgers. The British Beer and Pub Association said 18 million pints will be poured today alone; seven million more than usual, with takings hitting £100million.
In Samara, England fans are making do with a beach and a miles-long promenade, with imported sand lining the Volga river. Sarah Mcdonnell, 30, from Henley-on-thames, who works in finance, and Steven Bell, 37, her partner from Belfast, have spent £10,000 just to get to Samara. Miss Mcdonnell said: “It’s worth every penny. England can win this World Cup.”
The couple live in Hong Kong and obtained the tickets from a contact in China. It took them three flights to reach Samara, from Hong Kong to Dubai, then on to Moscow and finally to Samara.