Southgate insists England fans not arrogant ahead of Euro final

Football
11 Jul 2021 • 11:53 AM MYT
Tribal Football
Tribal Football

Tribal Football covers news from the Premier League, LaLiga and Serie A

England coach Gareth Southgate insists the country's fans aren't arrogant.

Ahead of the Euro 2020 final against Italy, Southgate was asked about the perception abroad that England are arrogant given their chant of "football's coming home".

He said, "I didn't want to listen to it for 15 years because it was too painful.

"You have to know the English to know our humour, our humour is quite unique.

"It's not arrogant, the lyrics are making fun of ourselves and the things that have gone wrong."

The England manager continued: "The atmosphere inside Wembley has been great, when we started two or three years ago we had fans throwing paper aeroplanes.

"There was apathy and now the energy is fantastic. The players need that warmth and support."

He also called on England fans not to boo during the Italian national anthem tomorrow.

He said: "It's important that our fans respect the opposition. We know that when we play abroad and fans boo our anthem it inspires us even more.

"It won't help the team, we can intimidate the opponents and boo during the game, but we need to be respectful."