Student Nadia divides her National Loyalties for Footie

Sunderland student Nadia Haif will be dividing her national loyalties when she travels to South Africa to follow England in the World Cup. The football-mad 21 year old is half Algerian and will be cheering on both nations when they face each other in the group stages on June 18, in Cape Town.

Luckily Nadia, a final-year broadcast journalism student at the
University of Sunderland, has managed to get hold of neutral tickets,
alongside her brother Tarik and partner Tony Shaw.

But she admits it will be an England shirt she dons during the match.

“Being English I’m obviously going to support England, but I always
look for Algeria’s results and I like to see them do well,” said
Nadia, from Washington.

“I was amazed to find both teams were drawn against each other in the
group stages. It will be an interesting match. Algeria are obviously
underdogs, but in my opinion England tend to bottle games in big
tournaments so an upset could be on the cards.”

Nadia, who graduates in June and hopes to pursue a career in sports
journalism, will also be providing blog updates on the football action
every two days for BBC Sport.

She said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for me. I’ve wanted
to be a sports journalist for as along as I can remember, my earliest
memories are Saturday afternoons, checking the television for the
latest scores. I am very football focussed and just love the media
build up and post-match coverage to an event like this.”

She added: “I believe I am now in a better position than ever to get
into broadcast sports journalism thanks to the opportunities provided
on my course here at Sunderland.”

Asked how she rates both nations’ chances, she said: “I think England
will win the group, however, I don’t think they will win every game;
possibly drawing with the USA. Depending on who they face, I think
England could possibly make it to semi-finals but I cannot see them
winning. Unfortunately I don’t think Algeria will make it past the
group stages.

“I think Spain will win the World Cup this year. They have superb
talent, and if Fernando Torres can stay fit, they have an even better
chance.”

Nadia still believes Wayne Rooney is England’s best hope for a 2010
World Cup win, alongside Aaron Lennon if he is match fit.

But when it comes to Algeria’s star players, who does Nadia think will
cause problems for the England team?

She said: “Some Algerian players to look out for are goalkeeper
Chaouchi Faouzi. Other Algerian players who you may recognise are
Portsmouth’s Nadir Belhadj, Rangers’ defender Majid Bougherra,
Blackpool midfielder Hameur Bouzza and Portsmouth’s Hassan Yebda.”

Nadia will be in South Africa for the whole tournament and has tickets
for England v Algeria, Holland v Cameroon and Portugal v North Korea.
She’ll be staying with relatives in Cape Town, and hopes to get hold
of tickets to other matches during her visit.
Nadia is also hoping her Algerian father Salim will be joining Nadia
and Tarik, 24, a Northumbria University media production graduate, in
South Africa for the match.

Salim Haif arrived in the North East in the 1970s to study engineering
at the university when Sunderland was still a Polytechnic. During his
studies he met and married Nadia’s mum Beverley Smith, from Houghton-
le-Spring, and later became a British Citizen.

However, Nadia admits despite living in this country for more than 30
years, her father will sticking firmly to his native roots and
cheering on Algeria next month.

“I think to keep my whole family happy, a draw between the two nations
would be best all round!” she joked.