England send fans and WAGs into gloom with bore draw against Slovenia
England sent their fans - and WAGs - into despair and boredom after a disappointing 0-0 draw with Slovenia in last night's crunch Euros clash. The Three Lions were met with fury from supporters for the second game in a row, following their abysmal display against Denmark, as they limped through to the knock-out stages following a drab performance in Cologne Stadium in Germany .
Enraged fans threw empty beer cups at manager Gareth Southgate and booed the team off the pitch during their lap of honour. Supporters were seen making obscene hand gestures and shouting at the coach as he applauded the supporters - while the boring match appeared to send others to sleep. The players started strong and kept possession of the ball in the first few minutes of the game, before Bukayo Saka's disallowed goal left the Captain Harry Kane's side nervous for the remainder of the clash - wasting countless opportunities to score.
The match had been overshadowed by yet another distracting off-field WAG drama after Kieran Trippier's wife sent a cryptic social media post and unfollowed him on Instagram. The England camp has been trying in vain to keep a lid on stories about Kyle Walker 's marital blow-up to allow the vice captain to concentrate on his football after both wife Annie Kilner and ex-lover Lauryn Goodman attended the last game versus Denmark.
Tripper's home life was thrust into the limelight hours before the clash when it was revealed his wife Charlotte, 33, had posted on Instagram: 'Sooner or later you get over the s*** you swore you'd never get over and it's the best feeling in the world.' Hours earlier, Charlotte post a short film of herself enjoying 'some calm' before the school run on her Instagram story, which she has since deleted. The video showed her in a dressing gown looking into the camera pensively.
Last week, England's draw against Denmark was overshadowed as Lauryn and Annie both showed up to watch Walker play. Yesterday's match left devoted fans wondering if they would continue to cheer on Southgate's men after making the costly journey to Germany to support England. England had already made it through to the last-16 stage with a game to spare, but last night's match means they will avoid France, Spain, Germany and Portugal - and will either face the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Turkey or Georgia at 5pm on Sunday.
Following the game, England players were consoled by their emotional family members and glamorous WAGs. Jude Bellingham's parents looked close to tears as they comforted the midfielder in the stands after the team's 'abysmal' sleepwalk into the Euro 2024 knock out stages at Cologne Stadium.
Stunning Dani Dyer, who donned a white England shirt, sympathetically leaned on her partner Jarrod Bowen following the game as they appeared to engage in a serious conversation.
Ollie Wilkins was greeted with a kiss from his long-term girlfriend Ellie Anderson in the stands, while Harry Kane beamed as he gave his wife a huge bear hug and draped a red jacket over her shoulders.
A fed-up looking Phil Foden was seen sat between his mother Claire Rowlands and father as the stadium cleared while Cole Palmer was given plenty of hugs from his family members.
During the game, goalie Jordan Pickford's wife Meghan was seen reading her phone, as well as Wilkins' partner - while Bukayo Sako's girlfriend Tolami Benson stared up at the crowd above and treated herself to an ice cream mid-match.
One fan Steve Walsh, 21, of Aston, Birmingham, said: 'We were so boring and Slovenia were supposed to be the underdogs. We looked scared. Southgate needs to wake up and realise he has got the best players in the world. We were like rabbits caught in car headlights. I was behind the England goal in the second half and it was groan after groan nearly everytime we had the ball. What has happened?'
With a flag of St George painted on her face, events manager Charlotte Dale, 32, from Nottingham, said: 'We may not have won but we're into the last 16 as group winners and we avoid Germany. There was a lot of negativity in the run up to this game and hopefully this will go some way to silencing that noise. It frustrates me that all of us - the fans, the pundits, everyone - seem to have no middle ground as far as England is concerned.'
'If we win we're the best in the world and should be beating everyone 5-0. If we lose we're suddenly 's***', as Gary Lineker said. 'The truth is probably always somewhere in between. Most people would have taken a group win before the tournament. No-one will want to play us.' Fans in the UK had ditched work early to bag the best seats in local boozers and screening venues as they remained hopeful about their team's shaky fate - but were left bitterly 'bored' and disappointed.
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