Faces of Football: France – a letter to the national team

Dear French national team,

my name is kin My parents are from Hong Kong and China, so we don’t have a special family connection to football. When I was a kid, the sport at home was table tennis. Always table tennis. Then I started playing soccer on the playground during breaks, and my buddies and I tried to do the tricks from the Captain Tsubasa manga series.

Now I love football and it’s my passion along with travel and photography and if I get a chance I have all three which is ideal.

Over the years there have been 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 game ended 3-3 but the result didn’t matter, all that mattered was the privilege of watching Zizou play.

I was 11 at the time and I remember seeing the team and coaches walking past my parents’ supermarket after the Brazil win 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 attended a friendly against Uruguay. It was one of Hugo Lloris’ first games.

Since then I’ve done everything I can to be in the stadiums and see you guys as often as possible. I drove 5000 km to see you guys, I drove all over Europe to see you guys play at Euro 2020. In the past I even lost my job to go on vacation and follow you to Russia. Luckily it was all worth it because we got the trophy!

Unfortunately I cannot travel to Qatar this winter. I won’t be able to create lasting memories with my best friends. I’m not going to belt out the Marseillaise at the stadium before the game. Instead, I’ll do it at home and hope you bring the trophy back to France for a third time.

Best regards,

children

This article was originally published on 90min.de as.