England’s classy gesture to the late Bradley Lowery ahead of Sweden clash

**Departed Bradley Lowery [Photo: Courtesy]**

Ahead of their World Cup quarter-final clash with Sweden, England have vowed to keep departed cancer victim Bradley Lowery in their hearts and produce a performance that he would be proud of.

Through a post on the Three Lions’ official Twitter page, Gareth Southgate’s team recalled the time little hero Bradley led them out the tunnel during a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania.

We'll always remember having Bradley lead us out against Lithuania. That was an big win on our journey to the #WorldCup, and he was definitely our inspiration that day.

We'll have Bradley in our thoughts today, and we hope that the #ThreeLions give you a result to be proud of. pic.twitter.com/C8eklM0sbt

— England (@England) July 7, 2018

“We'll always remember having Bradley lead us out against Lithuania. That was a big win on our journey to the #WorldCup and he was definitely our inspiration that day,” read part of the post.

They hope to beat Sweden for Bradley today and qualify for the semi-final for the first time since 1990.

“We'll have Bradley in our thoughts today, and we hope that the #ThreeLions give you a result to be proud of,” they concluded.

**Lowery leading the England team out of the tunnel during a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania [Photo: Courtesy]**

**Lowery with his idol Defoe [Photo: Courtesy]**

**Lowery touched the hearts of many [Photo: Courtesy]**

Bradley, who hailed from Blackhall Colliery battled cancer for a lengthy period of his young life before he lost the fight on July 7 2017. The 6-year-old was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma at the age of 18 months.

Lowery was a regular Sunderland mascot, holding the hand of Jermain Defoe who was his idol whenever the teams came out of the tunnels to play. On the eve of his death, Defoe broke down in emotional scenes during a press conference telling the media that Brad would ‘always be in my heart.’