As Sweden players prepare to help bring football home to England, they got a nasty wake up call bright and early this morning.
Just hours before the Swedish national football team face England in today’s FIFA World Cup quarter-final (July 7, kick off 15:00 BST), the befuddled looking players were given a rude awakening.
It didn’t come in the form of Harry Kane’s right foot though…
Nope. The team was risen at 8am local time this morning (Saturday 7 July) at the posh Lotte hotel where they’re staying before the game later this afternoon.
According to the Daily Mail, one of the players was overheard saying:
We could do without this today.
Terry Comitti, an England fan who’s staying at the hotel was no doubt delighted to tell the Daily Mail:
The Swedish players looked like they had the right hump.
They were not happy and that wouldn’t be a surprise when they were supposed to be getting their beauty sleep before what is probably the biggest games of their lives.
It might do England a favour though if they are a bit tired when they kick off on the match later.
Another England fan who was also staying at the hotel said he ‘felt a bit sorry’ for the team, adding they’d been ‘very friendly’ with England fans.
He also confirmed the alarm was nothing to worry about, saying:
Thankfully nothing happened to them on the day of the match, but I suppose the hotel couldn’t take any chances if an alarm goes off.
Sweden are bunking at the only five star hotel in town.
England were forced to stay in a four star hotel on the outskirts of Samara, which is next door to an Ibis hotel and has a McDonalds and a Burger King on the same busy street.
England fans are, of course, rejoicing:
The alarm is said to have gone off accidentally.
But one man on Twitter, who goes by @OldBob1944, has even claimed responsibility for the fire alarm being triggered himself.
Disclaimer: Bob is probably telling a porkie:
He wrote:
Went to the Sweden player’s hotel last night and set the fire alarm off, woke them all up. Disrupt the enemy plan, learned that in the forces
Meanwhile Gareth Southgate’s team were tucked up in bed a few miles away so will be well-rested before today’s match.
This comes after last night’s game where Belgium beat Brazil to knock the tournament favourites out of the World Cup, in what’s been described as possibly the ‘best’ game yet.
Benefiting from a Fernandinho own goal and rapturous strike from Kevin De Bruyne, Belgium went into half time with a commanding 2-0 lead.
Brazil looked down and out for long periods of the second half, but following the introduction of Douglas Costa, serious questions were being asked of Roberto Martinez’s men.
A penalty appeal was rejected by everyone’s favourite referral system, VAR, but Brazil battled to earn a lifeline as Renato Augusto rose to head in from a Philippe Coutinho cross on 76 minutes.
The rest of the game was played out with Brazil dominating proceedings, searching for an equaliser and to force extra time. Alas, it would never come.
The result sees Belgium through to the semi finals where they’ll meet Didier Deschamps’ France, following their 2-0 victory over Uruguay.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.