“We believe it’s the right thing to do so we’re going to continue to do it.”
Marcus Rashford has brushed off the boos that he and his England teammates received as they took the knee before kick off in their final warm-up game against Romania on Sunday.
Despite clear explanations from manager Gareth Southgate and his players as to why they feel they need to take the knee before matches (hint: it’s not because of their deep-rooted Marxist views and desire to bring down Western capitalist society), some still decided to boo when the England and Romania players performed the act before the game.
Well it seems like the squad are done with explaining themselves now. After the game, captain and goalscorer Marcus Rashford was asked about the booing, which also happened before the first warm-up game against Austria and has been seen at grounds across the country since fans were allowed back in.
Rashford said: “It’s something that we can’t control, and for us we believe it is the right thing to do so we’re going to continue to do it.”
Before the game, Southgate said that his players were “determined” to carry on taking the knee throughout the tournament.
He said: “We feel more than ever that we are determined to take the knee throughout this tournament.
“We accept that there might be an adverse reaction but we’re going to ignore that and move forward.
“I think those people should put themselves in the shoes of those young players and how they must feel.
“If that was their children – if they’re old enough to have children – how would they feel about their kids being in that situation?
“The most important thing for our players is for them to know we are totally united on it. The players have had enough really – and as far as I’m concerned they’re not going to take more questions on this through the tournament. If it happens, it happens.
“Their voices have been made loud and clear. They know the power of their voices. They know that they can make a difference.
“The fact that we are going to keep going is impactful.”
He repeated this view after the game as well.
"We're very clear on our stand – we're very clear that we're totally with the players. We're united as a staff and playing group."
Gareth Southgate, @TheRealAC3, @IanWright0 and Roy Keane discuss the @England squad taking the knee pic.twitter.com/n6PwM76bWr
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 6, 2021
England are absolutely right to no longer have to explain themselves to the bone-headed reprobates who still decide to boo when players take a knee. The players and team have made their position very clear and explained with reason and logic why they will continue to do it.
They no longer need to give air-time and attention to the morons who can’t deal with being reminded before every game that racism and racist abuse is still a very real thing in this country.
