Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan confirms his side will take the knee with England

Ilkay Gundogan confirmed Germany will take the knee in a show of solidarity with England after the anti-racism gesture was jeered by stands filled with children in Hungary.

The depressing reaction greeted the stance in Saturday’s Nations League opener at the Puskas Arena, which was half full despite the hosts serving a UEFA punishment for discriminatory behaviour at Euro 2020.

There were around 35,000 in attendance for a match that was supposedly being played behind closed doors as Hungary made the most out of regulations that allowed children to attend in such circumstances.

Manager Gareth Southgate blamed ‘inherited thinking’ for those jeering when England players took the knee, which they will do so again before Tuesday’s Nations League match at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

Germany joined England in taking the knee before the Euro 2020 last-16 tie at Wembley and Manchester City midfielder Gundogan said they have decided to do so again.

‘Well, tomorrow, we will go down on our knees together with the English because we want to support this whole initiative,’ he said.

‘We did this last year at the Euro and, of course, we will do it tomorrow too.

Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan confirms his side will take the knee with England

‘I’m used to that from the English league, where we do it almost every match so it’s nothing new for me.

‘We talked about it inside the team and we will support the opponent.’

Hungary are set to escape any sanctions after their fans booed England’s players taking the knee on Saturday, according to reports. 

The match was originally set to be played behind closed doors due to racial slurs being aimed at players in previous matches at the Puskas Arena, including when England last played at the venue in September 2021.

England boss Gareth Southgate was surprised that his players were booed by children

However, Hungary managed to exploit a loophole in UEFA’s rules, which allows under 14s to attend matches for free, with every 10 children being accompanied by an adult, meaning that over 35,000 supporters attended the Nations League clash.

Despite the majority of the crowd being young children, Gareth Southgate’s side were still booed.

‘I was very surprised,’ Southgate said in his post-match press conference.

‘I thought that’s why we do it, to try to educate. I think young people can only be influenced by older people.

‘That felt like inherited thinking to me. And I hear that still in our stadiums as well.

‘That’s why we do it, that’s why we continue to take that stand and we will keep doing that.’

England players have been taking the knee for some time and there are no plans to stop

England defender Conor Coady reiterated his manager’s stance in the aftermath of the game.  

‘We heard it. We’ve spoken about it now enough as a team, we’ve spoken about it enough as individuals, whether it be at our club, whether it be playing for our country, we’ve spoken up about it.

‘We understand, I hope people understand why we’re doing this sort of things now.

‘This won’t stop us from doing it in the future. It’s not something that will stop us,’ he said.

Meanwhile, European anti-discrimination group Fare has hit out at UEFA for not being tough enough when enforcing their behind closed doors policy.

‘When a closed door sanction has been issued it should be fully applied,’ they said.

‘This is not the first time in which children have shown the same behaviour patterns as adults in a stadium. We have seen incidents of racism perpetrated in European games by children.’