England Fan Who Phoned In Sick To Go England vs Denmark Loses Her Job
England’s victory over Denmark in the Euro 2020 semi-final will live long in the memory of many English fans.
It was the first time the nation has ever reached the final of the competition and there were certainly some jubilant scenes inside Wembley on Wednesday night.
Few celebrated more than Nina Farooqi, who will definitely never this match – for more than just the result.
Farooqi, 37, decided to call in sick to her photography job after a friend had offered her a ticket to the crunch tie in London, never thinking that she’d be caught out at the match.
Things quickly went wrong, however, as England equalised with a Simon Kjaer own goal on 39 minutes.
Cameras panned to the crowd and showed Farooqi manically celebrating the England goal, dropping her in hot water with her bosses.
It wasn’t until half time that she discovered that her plan had been undone on national television after receiving messages from friends saying they’d recognised her on television.
It wasn’t until 6:00 in the morning, on her way back to Leeds, that Farooqi received a call from her bosses telling her to not bother coming in the next day.
“There is a bit of regret, no one wants to get fired, but then also I would have hated the regret of missing out,” she said.
“I’d do it all over again.
“This hasn’t come around since 1996, I vividly remember crying on my mum’s sofa when Gareth Southgate missed his penalty, and the football fan in me just couldn’t do it. Football is my life.”
It doesn’t seem like Farooqi has many regrets over the incident. After all, it may have been a once in a lifetime experience.
