A football-mad shopkeeper has gone viral after posting a photo a photo of banned Italian food ahead of the Euro 2020 final against England.
The image showed shelves of pasta, garlic bread and other Italian food items cordoned off with yellow and black tape.
The post blew up within 24 hours and was flooded with thousands of likes and comments, Birmingham Live reports.
Within 24 hours the post was flooded with thousands of likes and comments and has been shared over 12,500 times.
The post read: “We at Nisa take football very seriously!!! Therefore pasta, pasta sauces, Dolmio, Ragu and pizza are all out of bounds and strictly not for sale.
(Image: Facebook)
“Nothing Italian will be sold. Goooo England! It’s coming home!”
Speaking to BlackCountryLive, Nisa shopkeeper Avtar Singh, who runs a branch of the store in Stoke-on-Trent, said: “It was a comedy thing for the local estate. I’ve run this shop for the last 10 years and have become well integrated into the community.
“Football has become a joint enjoyment for us all.
(Image: Facebook)
“We got together to decorate the shop and thought it would be a laugh to tape off the Italian-based foods as a joke and say they are no longer for sale.
“I did it for a laugh and within 24 hours it hit 12,500 shares and is still growing.
“Around 99.9% of my customers have found the idea humorous and theatrical. In no shape or form is it intended to be harsh or contradictory. I’m British, love football and support the England team. It has brought the community together.
“We haven’t stopped selling pasta and garlic bread it’s just for comedy purposes.”
The now famous shop is based in Stoke-on-Trent and has been decked out with Euro 2020 decorations to cheer on the Three Lions.
The whole country will be hoping England bring home the UEFA Euro 2020 Cup after facing Italy at Wembley Stadium on Sunday night.
Avtar added: “A big thank you to the Blurton Community for being supportive, crazy football fans and having a sense of humour towards my post … COME ON ENGLAND!”