Fabian Delph admits thinking England would return as 'superheroes' after winning World Cup

Fabian Delph has revealed that he was so convinced England were going to win the World Cup, he believed he and his book-club “geeks” would return as “superheroes”.

Delph was given a taste of the national frenzy created by the run to the semi-finals of the World Cup when he went home for the birth of his daughter after the Group G defeat against Belgium.

England face Belgium again in Saturday’s play-off for third place in St Petersburg after losing their last-four clash against Croatia in extra time.

“I did think that we would go back as superheroes, because I genuinely thought we were going to win the World Cup,” said Delph. “The four days I did get to go back, I genuinely felt the love and support of the nation.

“From what my wife has been telling me, and friends have been telling me, it has been great back home, so we need to continue that. We need to continue to be good role models and try to help the young guys to look up to us and try to do what we have done.”

Delph is one of the players who have spent their free time in Russia reading books, in particular Tim Grover’s Relentless, which is an insight into leadership and excellence provided through conversations with leading basketball players such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade.

“A few read it, there are a few books out of the library,” said Delph. “There are a few readers in the squad. We had a lot of time on our hands. You probably imagine us to be playing on the PlayStation or cards, but there are quite a few geeks in the group.

“Marcus Rashford. Has that surprised you? Eric Dier, Danny Welbeck.

“I’m trying to get John Stones to read. I gave him a book. He hasn’t read it. He hasn’t even opened it! Danny Rose likes a good read. There’s about five or six of us.

“You get the three types of people in Relentless. The coolers, the cleaners and the closers. Having read the book, I remember doing the parade after we won the Premier League and I wasn’t drinking. I was straight away thinking about the next trophy I could win, which was the World Cup. I think that goes for a lot of the boys in the team.”

According to Relentless, the coolers are those who can have an amazing game, the closers can have an amazing season and the cleaners have an amazing career.

Delph said: “There are a lot of cleaners in this team, a lot of guys that aspire to be good role models and win things. A lot of players at big clubs that want to better themselves and it’s refreshing to see.

“The young generation has changed, in terms of footballers, these days. It’s a little different. These young lads in the team now seem to have that desire and hunger that maybe me and some of the older ones didn’t have at that age.”

Describing how England’s run in Russia changed the reaction he received when he went home, Delph said: “Everybody was screaming ‘it’s coming home’, everyone I saw said ‘it’s coming home’.

“When I was doing the school run, usually the kids run past me, but I was signing autographs. We had a home birth. The midwife was asking for a picture. She told me ‘it is coming home’. Everyone did.

“I take the two eldest to school. Even the teacher seemed to like me a bit more now. They’ve been asking me to take shirts back to get signed. I’ve got no problem with that.

“I’ve got kids coming up, I think the parents are kicking them saying ‘go and get his autograph’. I’ve felt the support wherever I’ve been, everyone who has caught eyes with me has been giving me that support.

“I would hope that we are going back to a better country, the nation seems to have been brought together. I can’t speak about it yet because I am not back, but from what I’ve heard it seems to be a better place.

“If we continue to do what we are doing and to unite people, then I am sure we will be living in a better England.”

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