England playing behind closed doors an ‘embarrassment’, Gareth Southgate says

England manager Gareth Southgate admits it is an “embarrassment” for the country that the Three Lions will face Italy in a near-empty stadium in Saturday’s Nations League clash at Molineux.

The Football Association was hit with a two-match ban, one suspended, following the behaviour of fans ahead of the Wembley defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final last summer.

There will be around 3,000 people in attendance, largely made up of under-14 school children who, under Uefa rules are allowed free admission to fixtures played behind closed doors.

“If it is an embarrassment, it is for England as a country,” he said.

“A lot of the people that caused the problems I’m not certain were football fans. We spoke enough about it, we spoke about it after the final and when the punishment was first given.

“What I will say is the vast majority of our fans who travelled to Germany behaved brilliantly. A big thank you to them because maybe people were thinking something different but there were a huge majority who were a credit.”

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