There’s no doubt Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood are two of the greatest English talents right now.The Manchester City midfielder, 20, and the Manchester United striker, 18, will be regulars in the national side in years to come.But right now, they’re having to learn a very tough lesson.They both made their senior debuts for England against Iceland on Saturday night but were caught meeting two Icelandic girls in their hotel and have subsequently been kicked out of the squad.And now one of the girls who met the pair, Nadia Sif Lindal Gunnarsdottircousin has spoken out.Speaking to the Daily Mail, the 20-year-old didn’t reveal exactly what happened but instead the pair were ‘perfect gentlemen.’“We met online,” she said. “I was talking to Mason for a couple of days before they came to Iceland.
“They did not book the rooms. We did, and paid for them ourselves.“I feel really sorry for them 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.“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.“It was a good night that we had, of course. We were all the four of us spending time together and getting to know each other. They were really nice guys.”Videos have emerged of the pair speaking to some girls, discussing the idea of them coming to their hotel.One of the girls, Anita Gunnarsdottir, was filmed talking to the footballers but revealed she “wasn’t not one of the girls who went to the hotel.”The conversation can be read below:
- Foden: 'Say that again, what was you saying?'
- Girl: 'What's the plan?'
- Foden: 'What's the plan?'
- Girl: 'Mhmm'
- Foden: '(To Mason) Mason what's the plan?'
- Mason: 'Depends what you want'
- Foden: 'He says depends what do you want?'
- Girl: 'We can come to the hotel but I don't know how you're going to sneak us in'
- Foden: 'What you coming to the hotel for?'
- Mason: 'What do you think?'
- Foden: What does she want?'
- Girl: 'Yeah, what do you think bro?'
- Girl:(Speaks In Icelandic to her friend)
- Mason and Foden: Discussing. Hard to tell what they are saying.
- Foden: 'Have you got a mate?'
- Girl: What?
- Foden: 'Your friend?'
- Girl: Yeah
Last night, a spokesperson for the England national team tonight added: "Whilst in Iceland, both Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood spent time outside of our private team area, which was a breach of our COVID-19 rules.
"While they did not leave the team hotel, it was an unacceptable breach of our protocol. They have both apologised for their serious lack of judgement.
"The FA will be launching a full investigation into the circumstances leading up to this breach.
"We have spoken to the Iceland FA to offer our apologies for this incident and to ensure them that we are taking the appropriate steps.
"We have also assured the Danish FA that all other players and staff members have been isolated within our group throughout this period.
"Our immediate priority now is preparing the team for the match against Denmark tomorrow."