FA kept one piece of info to England squad secret from public to avoid looking 'arrogant' ahead of Euro 2024
The Football Association purposefully withheld information from the public ahead of Euro 2024.
Despite coming under fire for their performances at Euro 2024, England are into the knockout stages after topping their group and will face Slovakia on Sunday looking to book a tie against either Italy and Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
Off the pitch, England players continue to bond at their training base, Golfresort Weimarer Land, and TV communal areas are believed to be key in trying to lift spirits in the squad.
Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa admitted the squad are fond of hit ITV show Love Island which is watched religiously during their stay in Germany.
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“Love Island — we’re big on that,’ Konsa confessed. ‘The boys love it. Every night, a few of the boys come into my room and we watch it.”
Love Island isn’t the only thing dominating television screens in the UK with next week’s General Election fast approaching.
If England progress past Slovakia and into the final eight, the squad will be unable to vote in person as they will still be based in Germany.
The FA have offered guidance to Gareth Southgate’s squad members on how to register their vote ahead of the poll on July 4, according to The Daily Mail.
Furthermore, the report adds that the FA contacted representatives of the squad prior to the tournament to deal with the matter as they did not want to publicise their endeavours as not to seem arrogant in presuming that England would still be in the tournament at that point.
Konsa admitted there has been no politics talk among the squad.
He said: “Politics talk? Errr… not at all. We get the BBC and ITV, but are only showing the football on our TVs.”
Newcastle star Anthony Gordon suffered a freak injury during preparations for the round of 16 after falling off one of the electric bikes during a recovery session.
Konsa believes the bikes will be snubbed for the remainder of the tournament.
He said: “I was coming down on my bike, I saw Ant and he was lying there with his face, hands and chin bloodied and I just started laughing.
“I’ve never been on a bike like it. It’s weird. You can pick up some speed, you press the turbo and as you pedal it goes quick. It must have been a bad fall.
“I think he pressed the wrong brake because back in England the brakes are on different sides, so the left is the back.
“I think that will be the last time we go on the bike. Knowing him he will probably do a bike celebration now if he gets a goal.”
Topics: Euro 2024, England, Gareth Southgate, Anthony Gordon
Marcus Banks