A GIRL from Bournemouth has come forward as the mystery lady featuring in the selfie of a lovestruck football fan whose appeal to track her down went viral.

Maria Betania, 17, who is originally from Venezuela but is studying English in Bournemouth, said that she thought that 19-year-old Bournemouth University student, Angus Mainland, was ‘cute’ after they met on the same train last Saturday.

Bournemouth Echo:

After Crystal Palace fan Angus got off the train at Southampton, he realised that he had not taken the lady’s name or phone number and took to social media site, Twitter, to ask Cross Country Trains for their help in finding her.

Maria said: “I was at school in Bournemouth when I received a message from reception to say that I was famous. I then saw it in the paper and on the Echo that he was looking for me.”

Miss Betania says that she was getting the train to Hurst in Reading to see her father when she came across a group of boys who were in high spirits as they headed to watch their team play Southampton FC.

“I saw him and he saw me and my initial thoughts were that he had cute eyes. One of his friends tried to get my attention, to ask if I wanted to sit with them and when he spoke to me, I also liked his accent.

“He asked if he could take a selfie with me and I said ‘Why not?’ His friend asked if he could also take a picture with me and Angus said he couldn’t as I was his ‘wife’.

“I rang my dad to ask him about where I should get off the train and the boys were getting off at Southampton. Angus said to me ‘Ciao bella’ and I said it back, so I think that’s why he thought I was Italian, as it said in the tweet.

“We have spoken since at Facebook and I told him that it was a funny situation.

“Now, I just want to stop being the ‘Mystery girl’ in the papers.”

Angus’s tweet received over 5,300 retweets and numerous messages of support including from Crystal Palace football coach, Mark Bright.

Maria says that after sending numerous messages between themselves, the teens have plans to meet up next week.