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“Everyone is messing me up, of course”

Thomas Siniecki, Media365: published on Wednesday, December 07, 2022 at 3:00 p.m.

As we approach France – England, it is difficult to find a more obvious link between our two footballs than Darren Tulett, our colleague from beIN SPORTS. Still as lively at 57, he has lived in France since 1988.

Darren, what joy! It will be France – England!
It’s always funny. Obviously, everyone is messing with me and wants to tease me, especially my colleagues at beIN SPORTS… Everyone came on Sunday evening to tell me to get ready to pack my bags, because the World Cup was going to end on Saturday ( smile). But that’s part of your little French arrogance… We know very well that you don’t really believe it, some people say above all that the most terrible thing would be to be taken out by the English! It’s the hospital that doesn’t give a damn about charity, both are equally bad at it. Given our respective pasts, we will all be very chauvinistic on the day of the match, both are convinced of victory.

However, there was very little France – England…
It’s crazy, it will be the first knockout match! We have the impression that there have been quite often, but no… We prefer when it’s in the World Cup, we won 3-1 in 1982 and 2-0 in 1966. Europe, we are already out of it, it is not the same love story. Our progression is linear, logic would like us to go further and win, but we also have to be realistic: our only victory was in 1966. We have been suffering for ages. We were rarely on the level, and when we were good, we were unlucky against Diego Maradona cheating, for example.

“Complete strangers tell me that I reconciled them a little with England”

You were at the stadium during the famous 2-1 victory of the Blues at Euro 2004, in Portugal…
My phone almost exploded, given the number of French friends who wanted to share this… while making fun of me! It was quite remarkable, but it’s normal to chamber and it was a great memory. It was nonsense, we had dominated and even in 95% of the stands, then there were these two goals from Zinedine Zidane at the very end. The few French supporters woke up and started singing. It was my second year in L’Equipe du Dimanche on Canal+, it was terrible because the French were starting to recognize me. When I came down for Jacques Santini’s press conference, there was no translator and he asked me if I could officiate. The supplice ! And then in the mixed zone, then each player came and clapped my hand to say ‘Good game’… But me, if England loses, I don’t experience it with intensity like you. Maybe because I’ve been used to it for a long time (smile)! I play the game, I’m chauvinistic to annoy, but in real life I shrug my shoulders and move on. Otherwise, I would not be here for a long time, I am still an Englishman who has lived in France for 30 years!

But there is indeed this fundamental difference: we win, and you don’t! At least you have two countries to support.
The 30 or 40-year-old French have seen their team be world champions twice. In England, 75% of the country has seen nothing at all! If we win, it would be great for me, but it wouldn’t be a good idea for my job (smile)! Euro 2016 in France was great, with live broadcasts, consultants and fabulous moments… Four years ago, going on the air saying that France are world champions was also incredible. If the Blues go even further, we will live these moments again. If they get knocked out by England, no one will want to be there, we’ll only see me (laughs)! Well, you have to be serious, I’m English anyway! Yes, I’ve been paying my taxes in France for 30 years, but there are those silly little lines called borders. Besides, I’m also a Welsh quarterback… But if France wins, it’s true, all will not be lost. I will transfer my support, especially since I know the French players and not the English.

Conversely, we imagine that our English colleagues are also asking you, you are going to have a busy week! Are you proud to be this sporting symbol between the two countries?
Yes, it’s very nice and quite funny, after all these years, to be an ambassador for my country after 20 years of television in France. It’s crazy, at first I was just the funny little Englishman who talked about the Premier League, and 20 years later I’m still here… I pinch myself, it’s crazy, nobody told me said ‘Come on enough Darren, the joke has gone on long enough, go home.’ It’s a little pride, I’m Darren from England and I hope to give a good image. Sometimes complete strangers tell me that they’ve known me for a long time and that I reconciled them a little with England, it’s very touching. They could give me a room at the embassy! For the moment, I have to content myself with tennis in the gardens (smile)… For the BBC, I am the one who is on the other side, the one who knows France and who can say things, I am the spy in the service of His Majesty! At home, there is Julien Laurens who is married to an Englishwoman and works in the media, as well as Philippe Auclair who has known our culture extremely well for a very long time. We swapped roles!

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