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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Adam Dutton

England fans invited to millionaire's mansion after he took liking to Premier League shirt

A group of England fans at the World Cup were invited to lunch at a Qatari millionaire's mansion - after he spotted one of them wearing a Premier League shirt.

Jassa Dehal and his pals were left stunned when the wealthy businessman sent a car to pick them up from their hotel in Doha the day after meeting him in a bar. Jassa had struck up a conversation with the man, known only as Omar, at their hotel the night before after he spotted him wearing a Wolverhampton Wanderers shirt.

They quickly bonded over their love of football and exchanged numbers before Jassa got a message out of the blue the next day saying: "There is a car waiting for you." The friends were then transported to Omar's sprawling mansion where he had laid on a five star feast for lunch - including a football-themed fruit platter.

They were then given a tour of the massive property, invited to swim in his pool before they all stayed to watch Japan's shock 2-1 victory over Germany. Jessa, who runs a butchers in Wolverhampton, said the experience had been 'amazing' and they had been 'blown away' by their host's kindness.

He said: "You cannot even dream of what happened to us. We were in the bar of our hotel and he came over and said he knew Wolves. He noticed my Wolves shirt and we started talking about football, Wolves, Raul Jimenez and he said he was a Manchester United fan.

"He was really knowledgeable and knew a lot about Wolves, he knew we'd sacked the manager. He was such a nice, hospitable man, he started buying our food and drinks and didn't allow us to pay, but wanted to make us feel welcome in his home-country.

"So we sat with him, had great conversation about football and he then said we can come to his house tomorrow for lunch, and he took my number. Next day I get a call from him saying his driver is waiting outside our hotel to take us to his place.

"It said, 'There is a car waiting for you'. We couldn't believe it. We were shocked, as we didn't expect that to happen at all.

The fans were invited to the millionaire's mansion (@MrTegSingh)
He laid on lunch after sending a car to pick them up (@MrTegSingh)

"We went to his house which was a massive mansion. We then sat with him, had tea and biscuits and he showed us around the house. Then we all watched the Germany vs Japan match and we sat and ate with him in the dining room on a huge dining table.

"When going around the house he took us to the swimming pool area and he said we could go for a swim but we weren't dressed for it. It was just a surreal experience and it shows that the hospitality of the Qatari people is top class.

"We have experienced nothing but great hospitality and friendliness here in Qatar. The people in Qatar have been amazing. They are absolutely diamond people. They know they are getting a hard time in the media but we've had nothing but kindness from everyone."

The group of friends, from Wolverhampton, Dudley, West Mids, London and New Zealand, said they were unaware of Omar's background as he was 'very modest'. Jessa added: "We called him prince, but he said, 'Please don't call me that, I am one of you'." Jessa and his pals have tickets for the first three England games and also attended Portugal vs Ghana.

He said: "It was a mission to organise - making sure we had the tickets and the accommodation, but being here is amazing. Of course with many Wolves players Portugal is our second team. The whole experience has been fantastic, lots of mixing in with different nationalities."

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