Canada boss John Herdman has brushed off his English background ahead of a Women's World Cup quarter-final clash with Mark Sampson's Lionesses.
Herdman was born and raised in Consett, County Durham, studied sport science at university in Leeds and worked away from the public eye in football in his native north-east before beginning an overseas adventure in New Zealand 12 years ago.
Now, at the age of 39, Herdman is manager of the World Cup hosts, who stand in England's way of reaching the semi-finals for the first time.
The teams clash in Vancouver on Saturday night, with England fresh from a 2-1 win over Norway.
Herdman's accent gives away his background and he has spoken of a long-term ambition of managing Newcastle.
But when asked about England after his team's World Cup last-16 win over Switzerland, Herdman said: "I' m Geordie first and foremost - we've got our own little Geordie nation up in the north-east of England - and then I'm Canadian second.
"This is my country, this is my place."
Herdman might not be particularly welcome back to British shores should he lead Canada to victory, having also led his team to victory over Team GB in the quarter-finals at London 2012.
England will need to be particularly wary of Christine Sinclair, the striker who netted in that Olympics tussle and has scored 154 goals for her country in a little over 200 appearances.
The 32-year-old may not have been at her explosive best in the World Cup so far, but she set up Josee Belanger for the only goal of the game against Switzerland.
And Herdman jumped on the idea of Sinclair facing a public backlash.
"She doesn't deserve to take stick," he said in a press conference.
"There's some people out there who need to ask themselves a question.
"She's a world-class person and world-class player. S he gives everything to this team, every single game.
"S he's the pride of our country and she's going to stay that.
"W e should be proud of what that woman's putting into this Women's World Cup for our team.
"At some point Christine will do what we all expect Christine to do."
Herdman suggested Canada are unlikely to be the most stylish side in the tournament, even if they go on to lift the trophy.
"I'm proud of what these women are doing," he said.
"We're going to grind results out, we're going to take our fans with us.
"We're doing our best at this point and we'll give you our best every single game."
Source: PA
