An England fan has shared his luxury-filled meetup with a mega-rich Sheikh while in Qatar.
Alex Sullivan bumped into a member of the Emir of Qatar's royal family while visiting a supermarket 'to find some beers' during his first night in the country. His almost unbelievable story quickly went viral on social media.
Speaking to the Mirror, Alex revealed how he was whisked away to visit a palace near the capital of Doha, taking a Lamborghini ride to meet the friends of the Sheikh. Alex, who watched England beat Iran 6-2 alongside his dad Tommy, 64, said: "We were apprehensive at first getting a lift when we met them.
"But they were incredibly generous and hospitable and we had a great time. They had been asleep most of the day but they took us for a drive in the Lamborghini. I filmed that and also played with a lion cub.
"He had his own personal zoo with the lion cub, various birds of prey and some monkeys. They are obviously very powerful people in business. The palace was worth about two billion Qatari Riyal.
"But they were so down to earth and friendly, we had a really good conversation with them."
The 23-year-old, who works in e-commerce, from Wirral, is an Everton fan when away from the World Cup. After Alex shared videos and photos of his trip, one person commented online: "Genuinely thought this was b******t until I saw the videos in the thread. Hats off to them."
Another posted: "Up the lion cub taming toffees", while a third commenter said: "Roaring at those Everton lads that somehow got invited to a Palace and were cuddling lions, whilst on a hunt for beers in Qatar. You could not write it."
Tommy said: "We met some Iran fans in a bar and they were hugging us and shaking hands. We agreed that we had to buy the drinks if they won, or they buy if we won.
"That is going to be a big round!" The former trucker spent an evening drinking with fans in the 'Fahrenheit' bar. He said they were able to meet rival fans in a 'great atmosphere'. Tommy had retired and set aside £20,000 for a month in Qatar in order to watch the World Cup.
John, a friend of Alex and Tommy, also enjoyed the trip to the mansion. He was interviewed in the World Cup fan park and described how he couldn't believe what happened.
“Last night we met one of the Sheikh’s sons and he took us back to the palace," he told TalkSport. "He showed us that he had lions and everything. They’ve (Qatar residents) made us so welcome."
Alex added: "Basically we were on a bit of a hunt for some beers and he was like ‘yeah, we sort beers, we sort beers’, so we jumped into the back of his Toyota Landcruiser, ended up at a big palace. He showed us his monkeys, his exotic birds. It was nuts."
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