England’s players and boss Gareth Southgate have been praised for their reaction to the shocking racist abuse they received in Bulgaria on Monday night.
The Three Lions edged closer to securing their place at Euro 2020 with a 6-0 victory in Sofia but the match will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
Twice the game was halted in the first half due to abhorrent behaviour from a section of home supporters, which included monkey chants and Nazi salutes, with Southgate refusing to ignore them and referring the incidents to the match officials.
Despite chants still being heard in the second half, England demonstrated incredible dignity as they let their football do the talking and secured a thumping win. Few would have blamed them for walking off the pitch.
Speaking to talkSPORT in the immediate aftermath, former player, manager and prominent anti-racism campaigner Leroy Rosenior spoke of his pride at how England handled the situation.
“I thought the whole team were magnificent and Gareth Southgate led them by example,” he said.
“England came to a decision that this was going to be how they deal with it and they stuck together – and it was so refreshing. I have to take the positives out of it. As a group, as a team, as a leader, Gareth was absolutely exceptional.
“It will be a massive strength for England going forward. Where UEFA go, that is another discussion.
“England were outstanding. It is something I have never seen before. It is something I didn’t think I would see in my lifetime. People have said they would do this at some point, but Gareth actually did it and the players were with him.
“When you ignore it, those hundreds or thousands of people think ‘no one has challenged me so I will go away and come back and do it again’. That will make those people go away and think again.
“It sent out a wider message to the rest of the world who were watching that game. England should be really proud of themselves. Not just the black players, but all the England players because they were all disgusted by it and wanted to do something about it – and they did that.
“In the end, England won that game 6-0. I wouldn’t say that is just as important but that sends out a message as well, because they didn’t do it when they were losing, they didn’t do it when they were struggling. They were in total control of the game but as soon as that happened, you saw Gareth Southgate say ‘this is much more important than winning the game’. For him to take that lead and his staff, I thought that was exceptional.
“It was a big message for other countries and the authorities to say, ‘if we are prepared to stand up, then you have to be prepared to stand up and do more’ because that hasn’t been the message for many years.”
