England enjoyed a great game on Thursday, beating Montenegro 7-0 in their Euro 2020 qualifier. That victory booked their ticket to next year’s tournament but unfortunately, the win was marred but an ugly incident involving Joe Gomez.
The English defender was brought on in the second-half but his introduction to the game was met with boos and jeers from the England supporters. This is due to the Liverpool defender’s recent bust-up with Raheem Sterling, one of the Three Lions’ best players, which resulted in the Man City ace being dropped from Thursday’s game.
The pair clashed in the training camp after locking horns in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over the Citizens last Sunday. Everything appeared to be resolved at the final whistle of the Anfield showdown but that wasn’t the case, as Sterling instigated a heated exchange while on international duty.
The back-to-back Premier League winner raised his hands up after the incident and admitted to being at fault on social media. However, this did not matter to some fans as they took it upon themselves to boo on of their own players in the form of Gomez.
Sterling took to social media to slam his countryman’s hecklers, arguing that Joe did nothing wrong. Southgate later issued his own statement, slamming the fans for booing one of their own.
“First and foremost the whole dressing room are disappointed with it because they are tight,” Southgate said, as per the Daily Mail.
Sterling took to Twitter to defend Gomez
To all the @England fans, I wanted to leave things at it was but tonight I have to speak again : it was hard for me to see my team mate get booed for something that was my fault. Joe hasn’t done anything wrong & for me to see someone who keeps his head down and work hard..
— Raheem Sterling (@sterling7) November 14, 2019
“The players are united. No England player should ever be booed. I don't get it. All the players are disappointed with that. I'm hugely disappointed for him but he's got the support of the dressing room.
“I've already spoken to him and I will speak to him again tomorrow - he's got to feel the support of everybody.”
It should be pointed out that while some fans decided to boo the Liverpool defender, Sterling applauded him as he made his way on to the pitch. Raheem is eligible to feature in the upcoming clash with Kosovo but it remains unknown whether he will return.
