England and Denmark players take the knee before the kick-off of their international friendly in Middlesbrough on Wednesday (June 2, 2021).
England and Austria players took a knee before their warmup match and it was met with a mixture of loud boos and applause in a late 1-0 win over Austria in Middlesbrough, UK. Bukayo Saka scored his first international goal to earn the win for England.
It was the first time an England side has made the anti-racism gesture in front of a home crowd.
“I did hear it,” Southgate said of the jeers. "It's not something on behalf of our Black players that I wanted to hear because it feels as though it's a criticism of them.
“I think we have got a situation where some people think it's a political stand that they don't agree with. That's not the reason we are doing it. We are supporting each other.”
Jordan Henderson, picked by England for Euro 2020 despite having not played since February because of a groin injury, didn't feature because he felt some discomfort early Wednesday
In what could be a bad news to England's Euro preparations, their Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was selected by England for Euro 2020 after being dropped for international matches in March, sustained a thigh injury late and had to be helped back to the locker room.
“It’s not good to see him come off the way he did,” England coach Gareth Southgate said of Alexander-Arnold, one of four right backs in the 26-man squad.
