England star Kyle Walker has vowed to adopt Dave the cat, who resides at the Three Lions’ base in Qatar, providing they win the World Cup this winter. Stray felines in Doha aren’t uncommon, with Express Sport noticing many during our stay there. And it seems like the cat has made a big impression on Gareth Southgate’s squad, though not everybody is happy with them…
England players have been producing the goods on the pitch at the World Cup, winning three of their four matches to book a quarter-final showdown with France on Saturday.
And, off the field, they’ve been growing close to some of Qatar’s local animals.
There have been a huge amount of stray cats during Express Sport’s stay in Doha, with two often taking refuge at the Media Centre – which is positioned near the Qatar National Library.
And Walker has vowed to adopt a cat they’ve named Dave if England go all the way, with John Stones also a fan of the animal.
“If we win the World Cup, I’ll adopt the cat if I can take him back,” he said.
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“Me and John, we can share… we’ll put him in the City training ground.”
A few other England players are fans of Dave, though Bukayo Saka reportedly ‘jumps in the air’ whenever the feline is nearby.
“Dave, he’s just welcome to the table,” he continued. “There’s me, John [Stones], Kalvin [Phillips] and Raz [Sterling].
“We do get a few guest appearances from Phil [Foden] and the other lads that want to join us.
“But everyone seems to be moving away because we keep inviting the cat… some people really don’t like the cat but I love him.”
There is another cat named Paul, who has lost an eye, and is said to be less friendly than Dave.
Walker, who was speaking in a video call with the FA, said: “Me, Kyle and Stonesy usually sit in the same corner of the canteen.
“On the first night, a cat wandered up to us, so we chucked it a little bit of chicken and stuff like that.
“And then the next day, we went to the same corner and he was sat there waiting for us…whenever we go for food, we feed Dave and he sits and chills with us.
“He was just there one day, so we’ve just adopted him, me and Stonesy.
“I don’t mind them, obviously, I don’t mind cats, but I don’t like to touch them.”
Walker will be hoping to start when England face off against France on Saturday (7pm), with the Three Lions underdogs for that fixture.
They’ll be hoping to secure victory over Didier Deschamps’ side, though have failed to win against Les Bleus the last two times they’ve met at major tournaments.
England were beaten 2-1 by France at Euro 2004, with Zinedine Zidane netting a late double after Frank Lampard’s opener.
And they drew 1-1 when they last met at the European Championships in 2012.
Should England win, they’ll have reached the semi-finals of the World Cup for the second time in a row after reaching the last four in Russia in 2018.
Kieran Trippier’s goal had the Three Lions on their way to the final, yet Croatia managed to fight back to claim victory – breaking the hearts of a nation in the process.