An England fan has quit his chef job to extend his stay in the United States to support the Three Lions at the World Cup.
Ben King, 27, said “it’s got to be done” as he and friends talked up England’s chances.
He said he had lined up a new job three months ago, allowing him to stay in Texas until after the opening Croatia fixture before returning to work.
Asked if he would return to the US if England reach the latter stages of the competition, Mr King, who is based in Portsmouth, said: “I’ve already left one job to come out here.
“I was meant to fly home yesterday, but I left my job, got a new job three months ago and now I’m going home after the England game.
“So yeah, I left it and got to stay out a bit longer. It’s got to be done.
“I’ve looked at weighing up staying a little bit longer but I just can’t with work, otherwise I would.”
His friend Joe Parrott, 28, added: “The problem is, we might just not go home. You could stay here a lifetime.”
Mr Parrott described the ticket prices to games as “outrageous”, with the friends declining to try and attend Argentina’s match against Austria at the AT&T stadium due to the cost.
Speaking from Billy Bob’s in Dallas Fort Worth, Mr Parrott said: “Obviously the tickets to a game are a disgrace, the price you pay for tickets.
“The flights are what they are – I think we paid about £900 which is expensive but it’s not overpriced – but tickets, outrageous.”
His brother Sam Parrott, 25, added: “The actual cost of stuff out here has been all right, it’s just the game tickets.”
Joe, who predicts England to win the tournament, continued: “The resale value of tickets doesn’t make it easy for anyone to go to games.
“We were thinking of going to the Argentina game but the ticket prices, what do you do?
“If you look at the Qatar World Cup and previous World Cups, they were nowhere near as expensive.”
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