Last night, as England faced the Ivory Coast, Harry Maguire was inexplicably booed by some sections of Wembley Stadium.
The £85m man’s reception was described as an “absolute joke” by Gareth Southgate, while Jordan Henderson, Declan Rice and many others have also leapt to his defence.
It was a horrible moment, one that Liverpool defender Joe Gomez will be all too aware of after it happened to him in 2019.
In fact, we believe the £3.5m man will actually be feeling a lot worse than Maguire after last night’s events, for one reason.
What’s the story?
Well, when Gomez was booed by England fans during a 7-0 win over Montenegro, there didn’t seem to be as much outrage as there is now.
Raheem Sterling defended him, as did Southgate, but the incident did not lead to the nationwide disgust we’re seeing now.
Even Tottenham’s official Twitter account defended Maguire, after Harry Kane backed the Manchester United defender.
Of course, in some ways, it’s a positive that we’re now seeing more outrage, as it suggests things like this are becoming more unacceptable in society.
However, Gomez may not see it that way.
In our view, the Liverpool No.12 will be feeling quite disappointed that the football world didn’t rally around him in a similar fashion.
England vs Ivory Coast stained by Harry Maguire booing
Whatever you think of Maguire’s performances for Manchester United, he has been near faultless for England every time he’s pulled on the shirt.
It was just less than a year ago that the 29-year-old earned a place in the EURO 2020 Team of the Tournament, so some ‘supporters’ clearly have short memories.
To put it simply, if you booed Maguire, you’re an idiot.
How is booing going to make the situation any better? Now, after having his confidence knocked like that, it could take the ex-Leicester man even longer to return to his best.
With a World Cup on the horizon, it was an extremely disappointing moment.
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