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    TV pundit Graeme Souness slammed by Lionesses for calling football a ‘man’s game’

    PUNDIT Graeme Souness was yesterday slammed by England’s Lionesses for calling football a man’s game — before he stood by his comments.Souness, 69, sparked a sexism row after Chelsea’s feisty 2-2 draw with Spurs.
    Pundit Graeme Souness was yesterday slammed by England’s Lionesses for calling football a man’s game — before he stood by his commentsCredit: Getty
    Beth England, in the Euros-winning squad, said: ‘What a disgraceful thing to say after the summer this country’s seen’Credit: Rex
    After player clashes and both managers being sent off for an altercation at the final whistle, he said: “It’s a man’s game all of a sudden again.” 
    He added: “Men at it, blow for blow, and the referee letting them get on with it.”
    It triggered fury from female players.
    Beth England, in the Euros-winning squad, said: “What a disgraceful thing to say after the summer this country’s seen.”
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    Eniola Aluko, who played 102 times for England, added: “It’s not OK.”
    But ex-Liverpool hardman Souness said he did not regret “a word of it”, adding: “It was men playing men and they got about themselves at times. It was a throwback.”
    He later said his remarks were about the two Sunday games he saw and not the sport as a whole.
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    Inside the bizarre Qatar World Cup where England fans face £13 pints, swearing ban and nights sleeping in ‘caravan city’

    AFTER savouring every last drop of my £13 lager at Qatar’s Champions Bar, it was game time.With less than 100 days to go until the World Cup kicks off, I was heading for the air-conditioned Khalifa International Stadium, where England will face Iran in their opening match of the competition on November 21.
    Oliver Harvey inside the Khalifa International stadium in Doha, Qatar where England will play Iran on November 21Credit: Louis Wood
    Oliver reveals that with less than 100 days before the kick-off, ‘Cultural differences with the West come into sharp focus’, pictured: the World Cup TrophyCredit: Getty

    Taking the plush Doha underground to the 45,416-seat arena, cultural differences with the West come into sharp focus.
    A local ushered me away from a central carriage from which he explained single men are banned.
    The Metro here has three classes — Standard: Family, for women, children and accompanying men; and the lavishly-upholstered Gold.
    Boozing in public is banned — apart from at top-end hotels and restaurants — so supping tinnies on the way to a match is out. This is also a land where vapes are outlawed and swearing and obscene gestures can land you behind bars.
    Fatma Al-Nuaimi, — from the World Cup’s Supreme Committee, told me: “We just ask people to respect the local culture.”
    READ MORE ON WORLD CUP
    So how will this tiny desert kingdom, the size of Yorkshire, cope with as many as 1.3million fervent football fans arriving in three months?
    To find out, I’ve spent this week in Qatar, road-testing facilities and grilling organisers in a nation whose poor human rights record is under the microscope.
    Walking through treacle
    My dummy run to the Khalifa — where local teams Umm Salal and Al Sadd were playing out a 1-1 draw — suggests the transport and stadiums will surpass many previous World Cups.
    Entering the Metro in downtown Doha, security workers in white shirts and dark trousers huddled around giant air-conditioning units to beat the August heat.
    Most read in The Sun
    Outside it was a claustrophobic 42C (temperatures in November should fall to the mid to upper 20s) with cloying humidity making each footstep like walking through treacle.
    Inside the ground it was a pleasant 26C as 500 nozzles pumped out cold air.
    Earlier I had visited a Nasa-like World Cup nerve centre, where banks of cyber workers remotely monitor all eight World Cup stadiums.
    Chief Technology Officer Niyas Abdulrahim explained that the temperature inside the stadiums can be adjusted depending on the size of the crowd.
    And he revealed that supporters will be monitored Big Brother-style, with 15,000 cameras inside the stadiums and more in fan zones. Standing before a bank of computers and monitors, Niyas said anyone misbehaving can be identified.
    We have high-resolution special cameras to zoom in on a particular seat and clearly see the spectator. Chief Technology Officer Niyas Abdulrahim
    He revealed: “We have high-resolution special cameras to zoom in on a particular seat and clearly see the spectator. It’s being recorded, so that will help us in any post-event investigation.”
    Boozing in public is banned, here Oliver is drinking £13 pint of beer at Champions barCredit: Louis Wood
    Oliver, traveling in Gold class on the new Doha metro system, says ‘The Metro here has three classes — Standard and the lavishly-upholstered Gold’Credit: Louis Wood
    As he visits tourist attractions in the Qatar desert, England fans can experience camel rides and holding a falconCredit: Louis Wood
    No decision on Covid rules for the World Cup have been announced. Currently masks are worn in public and UK travellers require a negative pre-flight PCR test.
    And Qatar has yet to confirm its plans for alcohol consumption, with the Supreme Committee’s Fatma Al-Nuaimi saying booze will be available “in designated areas”.
    She added that events such as the Club World Cup in the country in 2019 — won by Liverpool — proved a successful trial run. “We have welcomed Liverpool fans in a fan zone that was serving alcohol before and after the match,” she said.
    The eye-watering alcohol prices in Qatar’s licensed hotel bars and restaurants won’t be replicated in the fan zones. A source at the organising committee assured me supporters will be able to sup pints for around £5.
    Gleaming Doha — a city of steel and glass rising out of the desert — will hold a giant World Cup party at its four-mile waterfront Corniche promenade.
    England’s wags are rumoured to be staying on a luxury cruise liner moored in the warm Gulf waters, where they will be able to enjoy a glass of bubbly.
    Their other halves will check into the dry five-star Souq Al Wakra beach resort, ten miles up the coast. When I visited this week, attentive staff provided a golf buggy ride from reception to the hotel’s decent restaurant to beat the searing heat.
    Lamb couscous cooked in a clay pot is £15 while signature drinks include the tomato juice-based How Bazaar, a steal at £7.
    England boss Gareth Southgate has chosen a location which will immerse his players in local life.
    Two camels
    While downtown Doha resembles London’s Canary Wharf in a sandstorm, the honey-coloured warren of low-rise streets at Al Wakra has a Middle Eastern charm.
    Next door to the hotel a mosque’s minaret rises and there is a children’s park, complete with two camels which may prove irresistible for an England photocall. On the other side of the hotel a beachside pathway leads to a tangle of shops and cafes in the souq, or street market.
    The rear of the hotel opens directly on to golden sands and the lapping waves of the Persian Gulf.
    Wales will stay in Doha’s brand new five-star Delta City Centre hotel, which is due to open in October. Fans can experience their own Arabian nights, sleeping in beachside camps.
    I took a hair-raising 4×4 sand dune-bashing tour south of Doha, where bedouin are waiting to offer camel rides and falconry displays. At the Regency Sealine Camp, luxury glamping tents hug the shoreline. Weekday prices start from around £190.
    Later I met Omar al-Jaber, whose job it is to find accommodation for more than a million visiting World Cup fans. He revealed a “caravan city” — costing from around £120 a night per mobile home — is being constructed in central Doha to help take the strain.
    Omar insists plenty of accommodation is still available to British fans yet to make a booking, the cheapest being flats near Al Janoub Stadium for under £70 a night.
    Other options include £170-a-night Portakabin-style buildings and two luxury cruise ships — the MSC Poesia and the MSC World Europa — which will be moored at Doha’s Grand Terminal.
    The liners boast swimming pools, spas and an array of restaurants, with prices starting at around £150 a night. England superfan Brian Wright and four friends have booked 22 nights on a cruise ship.
    Brian, 51, who has been to more than 370 Three Lions games and is heading for his eighth World Cup, said: “We booked before the draw and are paying just £60 a night.”
    We booked before the draw and are paying just £60 a night.England superfan Brian Wright
    UK fans will need to acquaint themselves with local customs and laws in a conservative Islamic nation.
    Coventry City fan Brian added: “Whatever country I visit, I respect their laws and abide by them. It won’t stop me having a bloody good time.”
    Scanners at Doha Airport detect anyone trying to sneak booze or drugs into the country.
    Qatar really isn’t a place where you want to fall foul of the law. The US State Department said there were 375 cases of court-ordered floggings, for various offences, in 2019.
    The last known Brit to receive the punishment was Gavin Sherrard-Smith, from Cheltenham, Gloucs. He was lashed 50 times with a bamboo cane in 1993 after he was found guilty of selling alcohol to a Muslim.
    Gavin, who denied the charges, said: “The last ten strokes were agony, bloody agony. I thought I was going to pass out.”
    Qatari organisers assured me that everyone is welcome to the tournament — yet the LGBTQ+ Travel Safety Index ranks the nation at 190th in the world.
    Homosexuality is illegal here and punishable by up to three years in prison.
    Some of the Wales team’s staff, as well as members of the Rainbow Wall — its official LGBTQ+ supporters’ group — will boycott the tournament over the country’s stance on gay rights.
    Built on sweat and blood
    The organising committee’s Nasser Al-Khori told me: “When it comes to LGBT everyone is welcome as long as there are limitations around PDA (public displays of affection).
    “There are things that are accepted culturally and things that are not. Everybody is welcome to the World Cup.”
    Public intimacy between any couple, regardless of gender, can lead to arrest.
    The gleaming stadiums and other infrastructure that have risen from the sand have been built on the sweat — and sometimes blood — of an army of occasionally mistreated migrant workers.
    The Qataris say they responded by improving health and safety and overhauling migrant employment laws.
    Spokeswoman Fatma Al-Nuaimi said the changes “will be the true social legacy that the World Cup will leave”.
    Read More on The Sun
    As the sun dips below the horizon, Doha twinkles in a kaleidoscope of lights and chrome.
    The World Cup in the desert will certainly be a tournament like no other.
    England fans can stay in portacabins in Doha whilst the World Cup is onCredit: Louis Wood
    Oliver gained access into the changing room England will get ready in before the gameCredit: Louis Wood More

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    F1 star Lando Norris’ girlfriend Luisinha Oliveira stuns in bikini on yacht

    MODEL Luisinha Oliveira lives life in the fast lane as she displays the winning smile and figure that sets F1 boyfriend Lando Norris’ heart racing.The bikini-clad Portuguese beauty, 22, was on a yacht in Ibiza.
    Gorgeous Luisinha Oliveira showed off her stunning figure in a bikini as she enjoyed a holiday with her beau, F1 star Lando NorrisCredit: Splash
    The pair were holidaying in Ibiza on yacht during Lando’s mid-season breakCredit: Splash
    The couple were seen hanging out with friends and enjoying watersports.
    Luisinha sported a bikini and bright pink watch.
    Lando and Lushinha confirmed they were dating in an Instagram post earlier this year.
    McLaren driver Lando, 22, cuddled up to Luisinha, while enjoying a mid-season break from Grand Prix racing.
    They were clearly lapping up their time with each other.
    READ MORE ON F1
    Norris is seventh in the driver standings, trailing behind Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes.
    The next race is the Belgian Grand Prix later this month.
    Most read in The Sun
    The McLaren driver is currently seventh in the driver standingsCredit: Rex More

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    Leeds winger Jack Harrison’s girlfriend Fiorella Arbenz stuns in a skimpy mesh bikini

    MODEL Fiorella Arbenz is a Leeding light of the Premier Wags League — just ask boyfriend Jack Harrison.Jack, a winger at Elland Road, hailed his “beautiful” missus in an online snap of the pair, both 25.
    Winger Jack Harrison gushed over ‘beautiful’ girlfriend Fiorella ArbenzCredit: Chris Ramirez
    Jack and Fiorella recently went out in Leeds to celebrate her birthdayCredit: Chris Ramirez
    The Costa Rican girlfriend of the star wore a mesh bikini for a new photoshoot.
    Fiorella and Jack, both 25, recently celebrated her birthday with a lavish dinner in the city.
    She will be supporting Jack in action for Leeds United in their clash against Southampton this weekend.
    READ MORE JACK HARRISON
    Most read in The Sun
    Jack Harrison will be in action for Leeds United this weekendCredit: Conor Molloy/News Images More

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    Furious West Ham fans brand price of burger at ground ‘robbery’ and ‘a scam’

    FURIOUS West Ham fans have cried foul at being charged £9.50 for a small hamburger.They hit out on the back of the Premier League club’s beer price row.
    Furious West Ham fans have cried foul at being charged £9.50 for a small hamburgerCredit: Getty
    Pricing at the Hammers’ London Stadium home was branded “robbery” and a “scam” by their supporters online.
    The burger doesn’t even come with chips.
    Fans had already complained at being charged £7.60 for a pint of Heineken and Birra Moretti lager and £4.50 for a bottle of Coca-Cola at the opening match against Manchester City last weekend.
    Bars at the ground want £6.20 for a pint of alcohol-free Heineken and £7.30 for a pint of Strongbow cider.
    Read More on West Ham
    Packets of crisps are £2.50.
    Hammers fan Lee Mason said: “The stadium and modern football has killed everything good about West Ham.”
    Mark Kelly said: “B****y robbery.”
    Another, called Lee, joked: “West Scam.”
    Most read in Football
    Richard Stone said of the £9.50 burger: “Does that want to be a 1/4 pounder when it grows up?”
    A snap of the eye-watering prices was shared on an Instagram page dedicated to foot- ball with the words: “If you are off to West Ham this season you’ll need to remortgage your house for a few pints.”

    West Ham lease the stadium and do not set prices or profit from catering.
    The club has threatened to sue landlords if there is no cut in beer prices before their next home game after a fans’ backlash.
    The burger doesn’t even come with chipsCredit: Lee Mason/Triangle News More

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    Ryan Giggs cheated on me with 12 women claims sobbing ex in court and says being in lockdown with him was ‘horrific’

    RYAN Giggs’ sobbing ex-girlfriend told cops he cheated on her with a dozen women, a court heard yesterday.Police bodycam footage showed Kate Greville, 38, make the claim on the night that Giggs allegedly headbutted her.
    Ryan Giggs’ sobbing ex-girlfriend told police he cheated on her with a dozen women, a court heard yesterdayCredit: BackGrid
    Police bodycam footage was played to the jury from the night the former Manchester United star allegedly headbutted Kate Greville in the faceCredit: PA
    It was alleged earlier in the trial that the former Man United star, 48, had eight affairs.
    Kate wept as she described being in lockdown with him as a “living hell”, a court heard yesterday.
    She told jurors that the football legend became “more angry and aggressive” and that it was “a horrific time for me”. 
    Police bodycam footage was played in court yesterday from the night the former Manchester United star allegedly headbutted Kate.
    Read more on Ryan Giggs
    And the jury heard that she told cops he cheated on her with a dozen women.
    Footage showed Kate sobbing as she dabbed her lip with a tissue.
    She told police: “Basically, I found a load of s**t before I told him and kept it to myself.
    “I found he had been cheating on me for the last six years with ten or 12 women.
    Most read in The Sun
    “Every time I found something it got worse, I found his iPad, kept it all to myself for two weeks.”
    Earlier in the case, the court heard Giggs, 48, had eight affairs, which Greville uncovered on his tablet.
    She said they were “full-on relationships that had gone on constantly from 2014”.
    The footage emerged on day four of Giggs’s trial at Manchester Crown Court. The ex-Wales international is accused of controlling and coercive behaviour against Kate between August 2017 and November 2020.
    He is further accused of assaulting Kate causing actual bodily harm and the common assault of her sister.
    Giggs denies all the charges.
    ‘You’re a manipulator’
    The court also heard that:

    KATE suffered panic attacks during lockdown with Giggs;
    GIGGS allegedly made it difficult for Kate to see friends and family during their relationship;
    KATE admitted lying to Giggs about having cancerous cells de- tected in a smear test so she “would not have to have sex with him”.

    She broke down in tears as she told a jury how Giggs left her suffering panic attacks after being trapped in a “living hell” during lockdown.
    Kate said: “I felt like I was losing my mind. I was having panic attacks. It was a horrific time for me.”
    Defence lawyer Chris Daw QC asked her: “You suggested lockdown was a period of living hell and there was nothing good about it.
    Basically, I found a load of s**t before I told him and kept it to myself. I found he had been cheating on me for the last six years with ten or 12 women.
    “Could you not have stayed at your parents’ house?” Breaking down in tears, she said: “Yes, I wanted to stay with Ryan.
    “It was a cycle of abuse that made me feel insecure. I kept going back, he kept promising the world.
    “He made me believe that he would not do it again and, stupidly, I went back. I am hugely ashamed of that but I did.” Mr Daw played two videos ofthe pair in lockdown.
    They were exercising together in the garden and appeared in a TikTok video rapping to 50 Cent’s In Da Club.
    Mr Daw put it to her that lockdown was “hard for everyone” but the couple were doing “fun things” including having Michelin star chefs cook for them, wine tasting on Zoom and online quizzes.
    PR executive Kate said: “It was not all fun. It doesn’t mean he was being nice to me all the time.”
    ‘Hugely ashamed’
    Kate claimed he had “conditioned” her to reply to text messages within seconds and had isolated her from friends and family. But Mr Daw pointed out a number of photos of Kate on holiday with friends in 2019 and 2020, when she visited Malta, Ibiza, Greece, Portugal and had also been skiing.
    Kate denied having “active, regular and very enthusiastic sex” with Giggs at the time she had a contraceptive coil removed — and rejected the suggestion her plan was to get pregnant.
    She did admit lying to Giggs by telling him she’d been told she had cancerous cells following a smear test — saying it was to cover up the fact she was going for an STD test, which came back negative. Giggs was branded “a pig” by Kate after she found messages on his phone to another woman after moving in with him during the pandemic.
    Following the alleged incident in August 2020 — just five months after they started living together at Giggs’s £1.7million mansion in Worsley, Gtr Manchester — she messaged him: “Thank you for wasting my time you absolute pig. You are vile. Go to hell you absolute skank.
    It was a cycle of abuse that made me feel insecure. I kept going back, he kept promising the world.
    “You’re a liar, you’re a cheat, you’re a narcissist, you’re a manipulator, you’re controlling, you’re aggressive, you’re violent, you’re a disappointment. No f*** off out of my life.”
    Giggs replied in an email: “That angry you can’t write. Chills. Kate, you didn’t catch me in bed with anyone. I sent a few drunken texts, chills babe. I wish I had cheated now.” In another he said: “Give the therapist a call, Kate.”
    Later in the exchange he told her: “I don’t give a f*** about you.”
    The mum of one was asked about an alleged incident at The Stafford London hotel on December 6, 2019.
    She said Giggs kicked her out of bed and threw a laptop bag at her head, before ejecting her from the room naked.
    She also claimed he threw her naked into a hotel corridor in Dubai in September 2017.
    Giggs is accused of assaulting Kate on November 1, 2020, following a night out. She said he headbutted her in the face.
    Read More on The Sun
    He is also accused of assaulting her sister Emma, 26.
    His mother Lynne, watched on at court yesterday. Trial continues.
    Giggs is accused of assaulting Kate causing ABH on November 1, 2020, following a night outCredit: PA
    Giggs’s mother Lynne arrives at court to watch the proceedings of her son’s caseCredit: PP. More

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    Ryan Giggs came at me from nowhere and headbutted me – I hadn’t seen him that angry before, claims ex-girlfriend

    RYAN Giggs’ ex-girlfriend yesterday told a court how she could “taste the blood” after he headbutted her.Kate Greville, 38, broke down in tears as she said of the Man United legend: “He came at me from nowhere and headbutted me in my face.
    Ryan Giggs arriving at Manchester Crown Court where he is accused of controlling and coercive behaviour against Kate GrevilleCredit: PA
    Kate Greville claimed it was ‘her mission to find out the truth’ after hearing from various people during lockdown that Giggs was cheatingCredit: pixel8000
    Giggs with Kate in Italy in 2018Credit: BackGrid
    “I was in shock. I fell backwards, my lip instantly swelled. I put my hands over my mouth and I could taste the blood.”
    On the second day of Giggs’ trial for assault, ABH and coercive control, Manchester crown court also heard how:
    HE allegedly threw a laptop at Kate’s head during a hotel row over his cheating;

    BEFORE the alleged headbutting, Kate had plotted her escape from the “toxic” relationship by secretly signing up for a new flat;
    SHE said it felt like she was Giggs’ “housemaid” as he “took the p***” out of the way she loaded the dishwasher and made the bed;
    KATE told the jury he wanted to “have sex all the time”.

    Read More on Ryan Giggs
    On the night of the alleged attack on November 1, 2020, Giggs and Kate had been with pals at Manchester’s Stock Exchange hotel.
    It is said a row started as Giggs, 48, became “very angry” when Kate failed to refer to him as her “boyfriend”.
    Giving evidence while being questioned by Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, she said he stormed off.
    She added: “He said he was finished with me and didn’t want anything to do with me any more. I knew everything he had been doing and I had the proof for the first time ever. I was upset at that point so I blurted it out.”
    Most read in The Sun
    She claimed Giggs tried to deny cheating but was “very drunk and very angry”.
    Kate said she called an Uber and messaged her sister Emma, dog-sitting their golden retriever puppy Mac at Giggs’ home, to pack her things.
    At the £1.7million property in Worsley, Greater Manchester, they started putting things in bin liners.
    But Giggs arrived and started emptying everything. Inside the house Kate said she took his phone as a “bargaining chip”, adding: “I was really upset and I said, ‘please Ryan just let me go please’. I hadn’t seen him that angry before.”
    Kate said he pushed her backwards and she ended up “flat on my back with him on top of me”.
    She wept as she told the jury she screamed for her sister to help.
    The scuffle then moved to the kitchen, where it is alleged Giggs headbutted her.
    Kate said: “All the other times that he’d hurt me, this was different. This was intent, he deliberately wanted to hurt me.”
    She claimed Giggs begged her not to report him to police, who had been called by her sister.
    Read More on The Sun
    She said: “He said, ‘I need you to think about this, Kate. This will ruin me and it will ruin you. Think about my job, think about my kids, think about my career’.
    “I told him, ‘well you shouldn’t have done it then’.” Giggs denies all the charges. The trial continues.
    A court artist sketch of Giggs at Manchester Crown CourtCredit: PA
    Giggs denies assault, ABH and coercive controlCredit: NB PRESS LTD More

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    Lionesses hero Ella Toone’s secret boyfriend revealed as professional footballer on Ibiza holiday with Euro 2022 winner

    LIONESSES legend Ella Toone is dating non-league footballer Joe Bunney, we can reveal.The 22-year-old striker, whose superb goal helped England beat Germany in the Euro final last month, has been partying in Ibiza with the defender, 29.
    The Sun can reveal Lioness legend Ella Toone is dating footballer Joe BunneyCredit: Splash
    Ella has been partying in Ibiza with the defenderCredit: Splash
    The pair were pictured hugging on the beachCredit: Splash
    A friend said: ‘Ella and Joe are very much in love and have been together for a while now’Credit: Splash
    The loved-up couple were photographed hugging and kissing on the beach in front of other holidaymakers.
    A friend said: “Ella and Joe are very much in love and have been together for a while now. They are both from Manchester and have mutual friends who introduced them.
    “Those who know them think they are the perfect pairing. Joe is Ella’s biggest cheerleader and he could not have been more proud to watch her lifting the trophy at the Euros.
    “They keep their love life out of the spotlight usually but Joe couldn’t resist joining Ella in Ibiza to celebrate with her.”
    Read More on Ella Toone
    Ella was pictured letting her hair down on a luxury yacht off the party isle.
    Over the weekend she was at a Calvin Harris gig alongside other members of the England women’s squad, including captain Leah Williamson and Nikita Parris.
    While Ella plays for Man United Women, Joe is currently a free agent after leaving Warrington Rylands at the end of last season.
    He has previously played for a number of teams, including a five-year stint at Rochdale and spells at Northampton Town and Bolton Wanderers.
    Most read in The Sun
    Joe, who has two kids from a previous relationship, also had a trial at Scunthorpe this summer and played in a pre-season loss against Middlesbrough.
    Meanwhile, Ella made history as she helped England win its first major tournament since the 1966 World Cup.
    She equalised against Spain in the quarter-finals — and her incredible chip in the final after coming off the bench sent the Wembley crowd berserk.

    Ella said: “I thought that would be the best shot to do.
    “I started celebrating even before it had gone in the net, so I was confident it was going in and then the whole stadium erupted.
    “Honestly – best feeling of my life.”
    Ella goes for a stroll by sea at IbizaCredit: Splash
    Ella jumps in to the sea off a luxury yachtCredit: @ellatoone
    Ella and Ellie Roebuck hit the beach in IbizaCredit: Splash
    Joe is currently a free agent after leaving Warrington Rylands at the end of last seasonCredit: Getty Images – Getty
    Ella, pictured with Chloe Kelly, made history as she helped England win its first major tournament since the 1966 World CupCredit: PA More