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A truck driver became an instant hero on Tuesday night when he allowed strangers to join in watching England vs Germany on his TV during a standstill on the M62 motorway.
England fans trying to find their way home on Tuesday were denied the chance to watch the game after a Carling lorry caught fire.
Whilst the driver was unhurt, the blaze meant the motorway was closed westbound from J22 for Denshaw to J21 for Milnrow while emergency services dealt with the incident.
It meant that drivers were stuck during the complete standstill on the stretch of road near Rochdale and many would have missed England's historic Euro 2020 victory, however some drivers were fortunately saved.
A truck driver with a television in his cab could have easily enjoyed the game in peace but decided to set it up by his door and allow others around to watch with him.
When your stuck on the m62 and England are playing set your tv up and all stand around watching it !!! @ladbible @England pic.twitter.com/gd6K9JiDRe
- vicky thomas (@StickyvikVicky) June 29, 2021
Fans expressed their fear of missing the match on social media, with one tweeting, "Not today, please no!
"I need to be back and in front of the tele for 5pm. Stuck in queues, not moving, on the #M62. Come on, show some mercy!"
And Highways England knew the hold up was bad news for football fans affected by the fire, tweeting, "The incident over in the #Rochdale area is going to take a considerable amount of time to resolve due to the complexity of the incident.
"We are working as hard as we can on the Yorkshire side of the hills to release trapped traffic and get people home for the football."
If they dont move your wagon off m62 jct 21 I'll be watching it here pic.twitter.com/crt6tdPUVT
- Wayne Jones (@WayneJo00091234) June 29, 2021
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring in the 75th minute, sending the crowd into raptures, before the Manchester City forward looked to have undone all his hard work.
His erroneous pass put Germany striker Thomas Muller through on goal but the Bayern Munich forward somehow missed when one-on-one with Jordan Pickford.
It proved to be the pivotal moment as Harry Kane headed in England's second seven minutes later to take Gareth Southgate's team through to the quarter finals.
The players weren't the only heroes on the day as another van driver allowed those stuck in the traffic to watch the game from his television.
Well, I wasn't planing on watching England vs Germany on a laptop out the back of a stranger's van... but a six hour motorway closure calls for improvisation. Thanks to Sherri, the lovely fella who saved the day on the M62. #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/PjYfSTpKxg
- Rich Williams (@itsrichwilliams) June 29, 2021
Fortunately England's game in the last eight against Ukraine is at 8pm on Saturday and everyone should be home long before then!