England striker Jesse Lingard has promised fans his team won’t be coming home early from the World Cup this year, as he packed his bags for Russian last night.
Manchester United ace Lingard will fly into St. Petersburg and head for England’s base camp at the seaside resort of Repino having ensured he had his bare essentials for the trip.
The winger, who scored eight goals for his club last season, allowed England fans a rare insight into what a top player needs in preparation to secure football’s top prize.
Filmed at England’s pre-World Cup training camp St George’s in Staffordshire, Jesse, 25, showed fans the personal contents of his suitcase.
He’s packed his washbag, brush, hair spray, wallet, his earphones and a laptop which he describes as ‘a must.’
Despite being a star footballer, he reveals he is like any traveller when it comes to taking a trip abroad.
Some may think footballers with their massive salaries are also pampered and have bag carriers and packers, but the truth could not be more different.
He also had to pack his toothpaste, toothbrush, blister pads, boxer shorts (different colours) and aftershave and pulled on his sun glasses asking: ‘Is it hot in Russia?’
Two pairs of ‘happy socks’ were also a must he said, adding: ‘Packing for a long time…that’s how you know we’re gonna go far.’
We’re gonna go far: Lingard scored eight goals for Manchester United last season
Jesse Lingard in action: The striker is en route to England’s training ground in Repino
If he and his England teammates go all the way, they will be away from home for more than five weeks.
Jesse showed his 800,000 Twitter followers that he means business as he peaked his caps, saying: ‘Done and dusted’.
The fact that England boss Gareth Southgate has allowed his 23-man squad to post freely on social media has heralded a new age of ‘glasnost’ within the national team.
In previous world cups, the players have been locked away largely from the public eye when not competing.
But last week Southgate allowed the media access to all his players with reporters ‘filling their booths’ with interviews and personal insights from the players.
One seasoned World Cup watcher said: ‘It’s great that Southgate is treating his players like the adults that they are and trusting them. You can see it has helped install confidence in the team.’
England play their first World Cup match next Monday against Tunisia in Volgograd.