OPINION
For the most part, England’s 7-0 win over Montenegro on Thursday evening was a cause for celebration.
Aside from a thunderous scoreline and a dominant performance, this was the Three Lions’ 1,000th game, and we also saw a debut for James Maddison and a first goal for Tammy Abraham.
But, this being England in 2019, everything positive has to be overshadowed by something or other, and in this case, it was the frankly ludicrous booing of Liverpool defender Joe Gomez.
We all know the story by this point. Gomez and Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling had the smallest of coming togethers in last weekend’s 3-1 victory at Anfield, which then turned into bigger confrontation when the two met up with England earlier this week.
Sterling has since admitted his role as the aggressor and apologised sincerely, Gomez has been widely praised for essentially turning the other cheek, and at Gareth Southgate’s discretion, the City winger was omitted from yesterday’s Euro 2020 qualifier.
That should have been that, done and dusted, but instead what we got was a section of the Wembley crowd, somewhat bafflingly, jeering Gomez when he entered the action from the bench in the second half.
James Pearce, always a respected voice on Merseyside, summed up the nonsense perfectly when he wrote on Twitter: “Joe Gomez getting booed represents a new low for English football.
“Absolutely ridiculous.”
Joe Gomez getting booed represents a new low for English football. Absolutely ridiculous.
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) November 15, 2019
You can’t argue with him.
Gomez has done nothing wrong, and yet it was the 6’2″ defender who took the brunt of the flak.
That’s not to say that any kind of animosity should have been aimed at Sterling either. For his part, he has apologised – twice now if you include his condemnation of the booing last night – and that should be enough for everybody involved to do the mature thing and move on.
But instead, a mindless minority of supporters have tarnished what really should have been a wonderful occasion, not just for Gomez, but for English football.
