A letter to the French national team for the 2022 World Cup.
Dear French National,
my name is relative. My parents are from Hong Kong and China, so we don’t have a special family connection with football. When I was a kid, the sport at home was ping pong. Always ping pong. Then I started playing football on the playground during breaks, and my friends and I tried to do Captain Tsubasa manga series tricks.
Now I love football and it’s my passion along with travel and photography and if I get the chance I have all three which is ideal.
Over the years there have been so many beautiful moments when I have traveled to you, but also some less beautiful ones.
One of my earliest memories of Les Bleus was Zinedine Zidane’s impressive performance against Norway in February 1998. The match ended 3-3 but the result didn’t count, only the privilege of seeing Zizou play.
I was 11 at the time, and I remember seeing the team and coaches walk past my parents’ supermarket after their win against Brazil that same year.
I had always dreamed of seeing the team play in a stadium and that dream finally came true ten years later when I watched a friendly against Uruguay. It was one of Hugo Lloris’ first games.
Since then I have done everything possible to be in stadiums and see you as often as possible. I have traveled 5000km to see you guys, I have driven all over Europe to see you play Euro 2020. I have also missed my job in the past to go on holiday and follow you to Russia. Thankfully it was worth it as we won the trophy!
Unfortunately I can’t travel to Qatar this winter. I won’t be able to create lasting memories with my best friends. I will not sing the Marseillaise at the top of my lungs in the stadium before the match. Instead I’ll make it home and hope you bring the trophy back to France for the third time.
Best regards,
Relative
This article was originally published on 90min.de as Faces of Football: France – a letter to the national team released.
