AWAY STRIP
Maxim VIP strip club in Kaliningrad... next door to the England team hotel expected in the city to cheer on the team, who have a final training session at their HQ in Repino before flying the 520 miles to Kaliningrad.
Some keen fans have already arrived in the city and have been drinking in English pubs Harry Johnson’s Bar and the Britannica.
Paul Simmonds, from Sheffield, said: “I haven’t seen many England fans and no Belgian fans at all. But there are lots
of Spanish and Moroccans left after their match, so it’s a lovely atmosphere.
“I came straight over here after the Panama match in Nizhny. It’s not such a nice city but everyone is very welcoming and the local beer is very good.”
Yesterday it rained heavily. Temperatures barely reached 20C. It is expected to get a little warmer for the game.
Back in England, where temperatures are expected to hit 30C tomorrow, a Radisson where squad will be based small army of optimistic workers are expected to book Friday off in anticipation of celebrations the night before.
Many more are likely to call in sick if the group decider goes well. England have qualified for the final stages but find out tomorrow if they play Japan, Colombia or Senegal in the next round.
Pubs will be packed tomorrow evening as fans watch the Belgium game, kicking off at 7pm, and shops will be braced for another rush for drinks and snacks. The upbeat mood has helped give supermarkets a 25th consecutive period of increased sales. Fans have snapped up merchandise at Lidl, the team’s official supermarket, helping push its overall sales up 10% over the 12 weeks to June 17.
Of the Big Four – Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s – only Sainsbury’s saw sales dip in that time, by 0.2%, Kantar Worldpanel found.
Elsewhere, analysts Nielsen found special offers on booze ahead of the World Cup accounted for 27% of all grocery sales in the past month.
Research suggests the economy could get a €3billion boost from sales of booze, food, TVS, souvenirs and barbecues should England reach the final.
■ David Batty, 58, and Michael Burns, 52, were yesterday handed three-year bans from England games by a judge at Leeds magistrates court after being filmed singing an anti-semitic song at a bar in Volgograd at the World Cup.