Thailand cave rescue: Trapped boy wearing England shirt 'loves Harry Kane'

13-year-old Sompong Jaiwong – known to friends as Pong – beamed in a picture last week wearing an England shirt as he crowded together with his fellow team mates on a rocky ledge in the Tham Luang cave system in the northern Chiang Rai province.

The young boy, who plays as as a left sided midfielder, dreams of becoming a professional footballer and playing for his nation, his former teacher Manutsanun Kuntun told AFP.

“Football mad” Sompong, along with 11 other young boys and their football coach have been trapped in the caves for 13 days, mounting pressure on rescuers to come up with a plan to rescue the group before the monsoon rain sets in.

On Friday, the youngster’s family said he supports Liverpool, and “would love England to win” the World Cup, with England captain Harry Kane as one of his favourite players.

His uncle, Chai Jaiwong, said: “We are worried sick about him and just want him home.

“He had been watching the World Cup with me before all this happened and he would love England to win it.

“His favourite player in the world is Messi but he loves English football and Harry Kane.

“He’s football mad and spends all his spare time playing or watching.”

Mr Kuntun added: “Pong is a cheerful boy, he likes football, and every sport.

“He dreams of becoming a footballer for the Thai national team. Our class is still confident he will be OK.”

It comes as an ex Thai Navy Seal diver, Saman Kunan, 38, died while attempting to rescue the youngsters, with officials warning there is a “limited” window of opportunity to free the young football team.

His death last night added to an atmosphere of growing crisis in the region, as fears grow that the boys are running out of air with oxygen levels in the chamber falling.

Authorities appear to have come to the conclusion that if a military trained diver can die accidentally, then making the youngsters scuba dive through the flooded, dark cave system is too dangerous.

Although electric pumps continue to remove water from the cave system, water levels remain too high for the young football team and their coach to wade and swim to safety.

Falling oxygen levels are now at 15 percent, rather than the normal level of 21 percent.

Meanwhile, Thai authorities are trying to put a three-mile oxygen pipeline in the cave to keep the group alive, while they look for ways to rescue them.

Passakorn Boonyalak, the deputy governor of Chiang Rai province, said: “Our most important mission is to finish installing the oxygen line to the chamber were the kids are.

“We are racing against time.”

Fifa promised to bring the 12 boys and their coach to the World Cup final in Moscow on July 15 if they are successfully rescued in time.