World Cup 2018: Fan gets all 23 England players tattooed after vowing to do it if Three Lions made the quarter-finals
Dan Welch was true to his word as he added some new art to his body - and stuck boss Gareth Southgate's name at the top
ENGLAND are preparing for their huge World Cup quarter-final against Sweden - but one Three Lions fan already has his permanent reminder of the date with destiny.
Dan Welch made a promise to get all 23 squad players' names names tattooed on him if the side made it through to the last eight.
And true to his word after the nail-biting penalty shoot-out win against Colombia, the Luton Town fan went on for some new body art.
Just to add to the promise, Welch, who is manager of Sunday League side AFC London Road in Hertfordshire, had England boss Gareth Southgate's named printed at the top of the list.
He made the promise back in May, when he posted on Twitter: "Putting my neck on the line, but if @England get to the quarter finals with that squad, I will get the 23 man squad names tattooed on me."
Yesterday that tweet was pinned to his page, with an update post reading: "True to my word, f***ing love it."
He kept his followers up to date on the promise too - first writing "tattoo tonight", followed with: "First name Alexander-Arnold, if I can get through that the rest is minor tbh."
Welch then shared a photo of him in the tattoo studio, captioning it "s***ing myself now", before posting: "Stuck Southgate right at the top of the list, it's fully deserved."
The footie fan was meticulous in making sure all the players' names were spelt right too - he even had "Dele" imprinted and not "Alli", with the Spurs star adamant this is how he wants to be listed now.
Welch is clearly a fan of the gaffer Southgate, who finds himself in his own quandary ahead of the monumental quarter-final clash.
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SunSport has reported how the 47-year-old has urged his England star to tell him the truth over their injuries before tomorrow's game.
The players are all desperate to play in tomorrow’s World Cup quarter-final against Sweden — but the Three Lions boss knows a few are carrying knocks.
Southgate, whose squad travels to Samara this afternoon, said: “The lads would always be prepared to risk injury for these games but that can’t be to the detriment of the performance level.
“When it gets to these games, they’re not as honest as they might be about how fit they are.
";So you need a racehorse trainer’s eye at times to really try and sort that out.
“It’s not straightforward, we won’t see everything but we’ll have a feel from what they’re reporting and the way they’re running and try to make the best decisions we can.”
Ashley Young took a knock to his ankle and suffered a thigh strain in the last-16 win over Colombia.
Other players — including Harry Kane, John Stones and Kyle Walker — cramped up in Tuesday’s energy-sapping Moscow tie.
Jamie Vardy did not train yesterday because of a groin problem and is a major doubt for tomorrow.
Dele Alli, who returned against Colombia after a thigh injury, went off with nine minutes left and missed extra-time but Southgate insists he is fit.
