England players greeted by portraits of pooches dressed as royalty at Euro 2024
By Issy Ronald, CNN
(CNN) — England players will enjoy the ulti-mutt home away from home at Euro 2024, with portraits of their dogs dressed as royalty hung in their bedrooms at their base camp in the German town of Blankenhain.
For those players with dogs, the team had custom portraits made by Purr & Mutt, a company that transforms pets into “a work of art.”
And the England team’s official Instagram account posted photos displaying the paw-sitively cute result, with the dogs sporting crowns, cloaks, necklaces, and ornamental robes.
Among them are midfielder Conor Gallagher’s fluffy Chow Chow, whose third birthday he celebrated a few weeks ago on Instagram, captain Harry Kane’s chocolate Labrador, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s Cavapoo and midfielder Eberechi Eze’s Shar Pei.
Boasting a team stacked full of talented players, England began the tournament as one of the favorites with expectations that it might end the long drought of 58 years without a major trophy for its men’s team.
But the team has faltered in its opening two games, holding on to defeat Serbia 1-0 before labouring to a 1-1 draw against Denmark on Thursday.
“It was clearly not what we would have hoped, we are not using the ball well enough and we have to accept if you do that you are going to suffer at times like we have,” England manager Gareth Southgate told the English Football Association website afterwards.
“We know there is another level that we have got to find.”
England still sits top of Group C with four points and can secure its spot in the knockout stages with a win against Slovenia on Tuesday, though it will have to improve hugely if it is to fulfil its pre-tournament status of favorite.
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