Gareth Southgate joked he is glad England s supporters were booing opposition players rather than their own after Virgil van Dijk was jeered during the Nations League semi-final.
Five days on from lifting the Champions League trophy with club side Liverpool, Netherlands centre-back Van Dijk was targeted by England s travelling fans every time he touched the ball in Thursday s match in Guimaraes.
But rather than join any condemnation of his side s supporters, Southgate feels it can be considered a positive that opposition players are being singled out instead of his own men, as was the case during a World Cup qualifier in Malta in 2017.
I m happier they re booing the opposition now than when they booed our players when we started, he said ahead of Sunday s third-place play-off against Switzerland.
We re making progress. Driving through the streets of Malta if Virgil has to take a bit, fair enough.
Van Dijk
2019
2019?
— UEFA Nations League (@UEFAEURO)
Defender Joe Gomez has questioned the mentality of those who picked on his Liverpool team-mate, however, as it had no positive impact on England.
Gomez, an unused substitute in his side s 3-1 extra-time defeat, said: I don t know where it was coming from. I hadn t see him do anything wrong. It doesn t pose much benefit for us as a team.
We get on the ball and play the same way. I don t see the relevance with it. Maybe they were just following on. I don t think it affected us or the way we play as a team.
