England fans cheering when German girl in tearing
England vs Germany in EURO 2020 (2-0)
Heartbreaking vision of a young girl crying should have united the world in sympathy — but English football fans showed zero class.
By Alex Conrad
A young German fan brought out the best and worst of football fans on social media as well as inside Wembley.
As England pulled away to a 2-0 lead against Germany in their round of 16 clash at Euro 2020, the camera cut to a German girl visibly upset about her team’s predicament.
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When her face was beamed onto the big screen within the stadium, a loud cheer erupted from English fans, some of whom took great delight in her misfortune.
Fans of the Three Lions on Twitter also revelled in her misery, with English YouTube star Jack Carl Dean tweeting: “Never in my life have I been prouder to be English than when I heard a pub full of people erupt into cheers after seeing a 10-year-old German girl crying in the crowd.”
A number of tweets and memes targeting the little girl emerged in the aftermath of England’s historic win, along with negative comments about Germany’s history, which left a sour taste in the mouths of many observers.
English television presenter Adil Ray tweeted: “An England win isn’t a win if you booed the knee, booed the German national anthem, posted xenophobic abuse to a crying young German girl or chose to keep the opening goalscorer who is black off your front pages. Real winners are victorious with class decorum and respect.”
Football podcast host Carlo Garganese said: “Celebrate a great win and an almost certain place in the final but don’t share, laugh at and memefy an image of a young German girl in distress crying her eyes out.”
Alastair Campbell, the former press secretary to ex-England Prime Minister Tony Blair, was equally scathing of the English fans’ behaviour on Twitter.
“Twitter awash with ‘grown men’ j***ing off at pic of a young German girl crying, having earlier enjoyed booing the German national anthem,” he said.
“Grace in defeat is a very special quality. Grace in victory ought to be a lot easier.”
The football world will hope to see a little more decorum from the English fans when they take on Ukraine in the Euro quarterfinals on Sunday morning.
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