Gareth Southgate revealed he asked his players TWICE whether they wanted to walk off in the face of shocking racist abuse.
But Southgate insisted that the players were determined to carry on and beat the racists on the pitch on a night which should shame football.
England stars Tyrone Mings and Raheem Sterling were both subjected to sickening abuse and referee Ivan Bebek stopped the game as supporters were warned by the PA address system the game could be suspended or abandoned.
Three Lions boss Southgate said: “Nobody should have to experience what our players did. We followed the protocol.
“We gave two messages – one that our football did the talking and two, we stopped the game twice.
“That might not be enough for some people but we are in that impossible situation that we can’t give everyone what they want. It was an impossible situation.
“But we gave the players what they wanted and the staff what that they wanted. Remarkably, after what we have been through, our players walked off smiling and that’s the most important thing for me.
“I am incredibly proud of my players.
“I have to give credit because the referee communicated with us all the time. He was outstanding. It was so difficult. But he was incredible.
“You heard the stadium announcement on the first instance. In the second instance, we could have walked off but the players were very keen to finish the first half and talk it through.
“Not one player wanted to stop, they were absolutely firm on that.”
England defender Mings said: “It was slightly overshadowed by a few disappointing chants.
“It was quite clear to hear on the pitch, but we showed a great response, we showed a good togetherness and ultimately we let the football do the talking.
“We made a decision at half time to come out and play the game which we thought was the right decision and if anything else had happened we would have taken appropriate action.”
FA chairman Greg Clarke urged UEFA to carry out a full investigation into the shameful scenes but said he fully supported Southgate’s actions.
Clarke said: “”I was up in the stands with some of the FA staff and we were watching the game and heard a sound which sounded like monkey chanting, we can’t be sure.
“I came down and heard some more at the side of the pitch and saw some activity by a group of people dressed in black by a corner flag and it was appalling.
“We were told by officials that 50 people – the people in the corner – were thrown out half time. I asked why the other issues were not dealt with and they said they were isolated incidents, not mass incidents and the protocol deals with mass incidents.”
England forward Marcus Rashford wrote on social media: “Thankful to the brilliant England support.
“You got behind us in the most meaningful way possible tonight and we are all very grateful. Have a safe journey home and take care.
“Also been told what the Bulgaria captain (Ivelin Popov) did at half-time. To stand alone and do the right thing takes courage and acts like that shouldn’t go unnoticed.”
Incredibly, Bulgaria manager Krasimir Balakov said he did not hear the abuse and claimed the home fans were just voicing their unhappiness at the performance.
He said: “I was concentrated on the game. I didn’t hear anything. If this is true we have to be ashamed and we have to apologise but it has to be proven to be true.”
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Source – MSN
