The national sides of England and Sweden have the unique distinction of being managed by men from both countries.
Yorkshireman George Raynor famously guided the Swedes to the 1958 World Cup final, where they were beaten by a Pele-inspired Brazil and Sven Goran-Eriksson led England to the Quarter finals of the 2002 and 2006 tournaments whilst being assisted by compatriot Tord Grip.
However, when the two sides meet in the Quarter finals of the 2018 World Cup one man will be experiencing divided loyalties in the form of Sweden's Performance manager and ex Torquay United youth team player Paul Balsom.
Balsom, 53, emigrated to Sweden in 1989, after studying in Cardiff and the USA, and has worked as part of the Swedish backroom staff for Euros 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 and the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. He has also worked at club level in England with Bolton Wanderers, Leicester City (twice, including their Premier League title success in 2015-16), Southampton and Hull City and in Belgium with OH Leuven under Nigel Pearson.
During this time, Balsom has worked with the likes of Henrik Larsson, Freddie Ljungberg and Zlatan Ibramovic in 18 years but the current Sweden side is much more about the collective with Emil Forsberg of RB Leipzig being the nearest that they possess to a star name.
Nevertheless, regardless of the outcome of Saturday's encounter, Balsom's allegiance to his hometown club remains unmoved; he still avidly follows the Gulls' fortunes and his father, Don, is a long-standing season ticket holder.
