England fans from Telford continue their Qatar adventure
A Telford father and son supporting England at the World Cup have continued their adventure, lending their support to Morocco against Croatia.
Graeme Harley and son Dylan, from Priorslee, are out in Qatar, with tickets for every one of the Three Lions’ group games, as well as any knockout games they qualify for.
As they wait for England to take on the USA in Friday's game they have been mixing with fans from a host of other countries – including Saudi Arabia, who saw their side pull off one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history by beating the much-fancied Argentina 2-1.
The pair of Burnley fans secured tickets to watch Morocco against Croatia – where they backed the North African side, which included Clarets player Anass Zaroury.
Unfortunately the match was a goalless draw, with Graeme hoping for more goals from England as they take to the field for their second match tonight.
Graeme said that the Saudi Arabian fans had been "ecstatic" at their win and heavily outnumbered all other fans.
He said: "Tuesday belonged to the Saudis as they took the honours and were out in Qatar in force.
"We spent the evening with the Danes, Argentines, Mexicans and some from Belarus – the Danes are still bitter about our win in the Euros semi-final.
"The Mexicans were happy with their draw but by far the loudest were the Saudi Arabians after seeing off Messi and co – well deserved and definitely the result of the tournament so far."
Graeme said they had thoroughly enjoyed the trip to watch Croatia against Mexico, and the chance to see a new stadium, despite the lack of goals.
"It was a great experience to be amongst the Moroccan fans and just a shame that the match was so poor – we picked the wrong game to go to!
"The Al Bayt Stadium, the one used for the opening ceremony, is way out into the desert and the only way to get there is on the free buses.
"Again it was stiflingly hot outside the stadium, with a 1pm kick-off, but relatively cool and conducive for football inside."
Graeme also said that after England's 6-2 win over Iran he was now committed to wearing the same 'lucky outfit' for as long as the Three Lions remain in the tournament.
He said: "My quandary now is that now England have won, I can only ever wear the same clothes – lucky shirt, lucky shorts, lucky socks, trainers and most importantly lucky underpants.
I brought 10 pairs with me and if I wear them on both sides, that should get me past the semis. Fingers crossed that we make the final and I find a launderette!"
