THE Icelandic teen at the centre of the England hotel storm admits she ‘feels for the girlfriend’ of Phil Foden.
Foden, 20, and team-mate Mason Greenwood, 18, were thrown out of England’s squad for meeting model Nadia Sif Lindal Gunnarsdottir, 20, and her cousin Lara Clausen, 19, at a hotel.
Lara Clausen was one of the girls who met Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood Credit: Instagram @laracclausen
Lara is an Icelandic law student Credit: Instagram @laracclausen
Lara revealed the meeting was leaked having been taken from a ‘private’ social media post
It came after England’s 1-0 win against Iceland in Reykjavik on Saturday.
But law student Lara has insisted she was unaware and did not know who the Manchester City midfielder was.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
Foden is in a relationship with childhood sweetheart Rebecca Cooke and the couple have a two-year-old son.
She told news outlet DV: “Many have said to me that he has a girlfriend and a child, I did not know.
“I did not Google the person before I went to meet him, I feel for everyone around him. Family, girlfriend, team-mates and him too.
“It is an honour to play with the national team.
“I realised that they were something known, but it was a big mistake for all parties not to have thought beyond what happened.
“We can not take this back, this is something you have to live with.”
Foden is in a relationship with childhood sweetheart Rebecca Cooke and the couple have a two-year-old son
Lara has insisted she was unaware who Foden was
The Icelandic teen opened up about the incident online
Before boarding a private plane flying them back to Manchester, Foden and Greenwood were hit with a £1,360 fine by Icelandic authorities for the coronavirus breach.
They both issued public apologies and were condemned by United and City respectively.
Greenwood said: “Having now had the chance to reflect on what’s happened, I can only apologise to everyone for the embarrassment I have caused.
“It was irresponsible of me to break the COVID-19 protocols which are in place to protect players, staff and the public.
“In particular, I want to apologise to Gareth Southgate, for letting him down, when he had shown great trust in me.”
WHAT THE GIRLS SAID ON SNAPCHAT
Here’s the transcript of the phone conversation between the players and the girls:
Player 1: “Say that again? What was you saying?”
Girl 1: Laughing “What’s the plan?”
Player 1: “What’s the plan?”
Girl 1: “Mmm”
Player 2: “It depends what you want.”
Player 1: “He said, ‘Depends, what do you want?’”
Girl 1: “We can come to the hotel, but I don’t know how you’re going to sneak us in.”
Player 1: “What are you coming to the hotel for?”
Player 2: “What do you think?!”
Girl 1: “Yeah – what do you think bro!” Laughs
Player 1: “Have you got a mate?”
Foden said: “Following the story which has emerged today regarding my actions in Iceland, I want to make a full apology.
“I apologise to Gareth Southgate, to my England team mates, to the staff, supporters, and also to my Club and my family.”
Iceland Miss Universe contender Nadia revealed she had been chatting to United forward Greenwood before England travelled to Reykjavik.
A video later surfaced showing the girls on the phone to the footballers as they planned their route into the hotel.
And Lara revealed it was leaked having been taken from a ‘private’ social media post.
She said: “Honestly with all my conscience, I did not realise how famous these guys were.
“I do not watch football and have never done, I did not realise what I was putting on the internet.
“I had to learn the hard way that not everything belongs on the internet, you have to be careful what you put on the internet.
“I did not realise it. I put this in a private story on my Snapchat and I thought it would never go any further, I did not realise who these guys were and how big it would be. “
The girls had spoken to the Mail Online, claiming the England internationals were “perfect gentleman” but said they were unaware they had to quarantine.
Nadia said: “I feel really sorry for him and I never wanted to put them in that position but we didn’t know any better and we didn’t know that they were quarantining, or else we wouldn’t have gone to meet them.
Iceland Miss Universe contender Nadia Gunnarsdottir, 20, was one of the women invited back
Model Nadia revealed how she had been chatting with Greenwood before he and Foden arrived in Iceland
Nadia said she did not know who Foden was
“We didn’t even know who Phil was. I asked Phil who he was. I’m not that much into football.
“I don’t watch football at all. We didn’t even know that Mason played for Man United.
“We haven’t spoken to them since. We don’t want to interrupt them because they are of course going through a lot right now. They haven’t contacted us.
“They were nice guys. Really, really nice.”
Lara added: “They were just young. We were all young and stupid and we all make mistakes.
‘They treated us really well. They were such gentlemen. Really nice guys.”
England stars Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood accused of inviting girls to hotel room in Iceland
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
