Nina Farooqi, 37, a digital content producer from Ilkley, West Yorkshire, 'pulled a sickie' after she was offered a last-minute ticket to Wednesday night's match at Wembley Stadium. However, the plan went awry when Ms Farooqi was seen by millions on TV celebrating the goals that gave England a 2-1 win. Her employers Composite Prime, which makes composite decking, were among them, and she was promptly sacked for bunking off work. (Image: PA)Shadi Halliwell, Chief Customer Officer at PizzaExpress, said: “When we saw that avid football fan, Nina, pulled a sickie for the big semi-final she had our complete respect. "We knew we wanted her us part of our own line-up somehow and that’s when we developed our own ‘PizzaExpess Pundit’."

Source: Daily Mirror July 11, 2021 12:26 UTC