England boss Gareth Southgate has praised Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham for their maturity following the horrific scenes of Thursday night.
The Three Lions’ excellent performance against Hungary in Budapest should have dominated the headlines, Southgate’s men winning 4-0.
But it was once again racial abuse that stole the headlines, with Sterling and Bellingham receiving horrific abuse from fans within the stadium.
‘Monkey chants’ broke out around the ground on several occasions, and the two England stars were resorted to playing through the incredibly difficult circumstances.
Though, play through it they did and have the last laugh they did, too, making easy work of Hungary with those racist ‘fans’ forced to sit through a 4-0 home defeat.
And on the back of the controversial evening, England boss Southgate has once again praised Sterling and Bellingham for the way they dealt with the abuse, keeping a level head and producing impressive performances in the process.
“I can only reiterate that the players are incredibly mature in the way that they deal with it,” Southgate said in a press conference, as cited by Sky Sports.
“I think they feel supported by their team-mates which is very important to them and their team-mates must recognise how challenging it can be for our Black players and how disappointing it is that in the modern world we continue to have to answer these questions because of the incidents that happen.”