- England suffered a defeat to Iceland at Wembley in their final warm-up for Euro 2024
- Gareth Southgate admitted he understood the negative reaction after the match
- click here to follow the Mail Sport Euro 2024 WhatsApp channel for all the latest news and updates from Germany
England were booed during their Euro 2024 farewell as Iceland left Wembley with a shock victory to give Gareth Southgate’s side a reality check.
In even more worrying news for the England head coach, he picked up a worrying injury after John Stones took a blow to the ankle in the opening minutes, just nine days before the tournament opener against Serbia.
In their final warm-up match before the European Championship, Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson fired Iceland to a shock victory, a result that means England go into the European Championship on a run of just one win in five games.
Speaking about the defeat and the supporters’ reaction, Southgate said: ‘I completely understand (the booing). We didn’t play well enough to keep them excited during the game.
‘We had some very, very good chances that would normally have been cleared, which could have given a different color to the game and obviously affected the opponent’s confidence.
Gareth Southgate admitted he understood the crowd’s negative reaction when England were defeated by Iceland in their final Euro 2024 warm-up match on Friday evening.
Jon Thorsteinsson’s first-half goal secured Iceland’s second ever win over the Three Lions
England faced cheers from the Wembley crowd after a frustrating performance
‘But that would have masked some shortcomings that were evident tonight. From my perspective, I learned a lot from the game.
“It does focus the mind on the fact that any complacency about that talent is going to get us this trophy and all we have to do is walk in… that’s not football. You have to be perfect in every aspect of the game to win a game at this level and we fell well short of that tonight and Iceland deserved their win.
‘But I have no problem with the reaction of the supporters. Of course it makes a huge difference to have the fans here with you, but you have to give them enough goal action, you have to play well enough, press and win the ball with intensity to keep them with you throughout the game.
‘It’s not the night we wanted, the performance wasn’t at the level it should be.
‘It’s far from an ideal evening. I’m not going to hide the disappointment, but we have to remain calm because we know what needs to be corrected.’
Southgate did provide a promising update on John Stones, who was replaced at half-time
Stones received lengthy treatment on the pitch and again at half-time in the Wembley tunnel. He left the stadium with the belt around his right ankle.
“John, we decided at half-time that there was no point in taking any risks because we are obviously so close to the tournament and he is a very important player for us. We think he’s probably going to be fine.”