A household of British-Swedish soccer followers has been break up down the center as they prepare for the Euro 2022 semi-final.
ngland’s Lionesses will tackle Sweden at Bramall Lane in Sheffield on Tuesday night.
Damion Potter, 47, mentioned he would be the “lone individual within the England shirt” as he prepares to look at the sport whereas on vacation visiting his spouse Susanna’s prolonged household in Jonkoping, Sweden.
The previous diplomat instructed the PA information company: “We nonetheless have to work out a guess between my spouse and myself however thus far we’re considering somebody has to leap within the river for whichever group loses.
“I will probably be cheering for England and hoping the Lionesses go all the way in which.
“All people else, apart from me and probably my youngsters relying on the outcome, will probably be cheering for Sweden so I shall be the lone individual within the England shirt.
“Might the perfect group win.”
Regardless of the couple’s competitiveness, the stress is off their three youngsters Elliot, 18, Zackary, 17, and 14-year-old Maya.
Mr Potter mentioned: “When England performed Sweden within the males’s World Cup in 2016, it was humorous watching our three youngsters initially cheering for Sweden and by the top of all of it three of them have been cheering for England.
“The excellent news for my youngsters is that whoever wins within the semi closing, they’re going to have a group within the closing.”
For the Potter household, soccer has at all times created memorable occasions – even with the household rivalry.
Mr and Mrs Potter have been married 21 years and on the day of their marriage ceremony in November 2001 England performed in opposition to Sweden.
The sport ended with a one-all draw which Mr Potter described as a “good diplomatic outcome”.
The excellent news for my youngsters is that whoever wins tomorrow evening within the semi closing, they are going to have a group within the closing.Damion Potter
Regardless of being a sports activities fan for the reason that age of 10, it was after the start of his first youngster that Mr Potter watched his first girls’s World Cup.
He mentioned: “My eldest son was born on the finish of September 2003, two weeks earlier than the World Cup and wasn’t sleeping at evening so I did the evening shift and ended up watching nearly each sport.
“The participant who received the golden boot that 12 months was Sweden’s Victoria Svensson and she or he did the upkeep job within the British embassy in Stockholm the place I additionally labored.
“After that, I used to be hooked on girls’s and males’s soccer, particularly for the massive tournaments.”
Mr Potter added that he hopes the “momentum and pleasure” across the girls’s video games will proceed sooner or later.
“It’s now not like once I was in school, the place there weren’t many ladies or ladies who would play soccer,” he mentioned.
“It’s essential for me as a father with teenage boys and a 14-year-old daughter that she’s in a position to play soccer in school.
“I imply, there’s nonetheless a protracted option to go however I’m actually happy that within the UK we’re seeing this 12 months’s Euros on primetime tv, the again pages are displaying the lionesses doing effectively, and the stadiums are full across the UK.
“I feel it helps that we’re hosts however I hope that that carries on similar to it has with all this momentum and pleasure.”
