Jordan Henderson is back in the headlines after being booed by England supporters and after Gareth Southgate claimed he didn’t understand why it happened, now the midfielder appears to be in the same boat.
The 32-year-old said (via BBC Sport): “It’s not nice, your own fans [booing]. I love playing for England, I have done for many years, that’s why I’m still here.”
Henderson, when asked if he understood why he was jeered, said: “Not really. I don’t know… if people want to boo if I’m playing in a different country, that’s fine.
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“Everyone is going to have an opinion over [it] when I’m playing over in Saudi.
“I’ve spoken in the past about the reasons for that. Whether people believe us or not is up to them.
“Of course it’s disappointing, but it won’t change what I do here. I want to keep playing and keep fighting and help the team become successful.
“I haven’t been surprised by that because I can understand the reasons in what they’re saying. I look at it from a different point of view, obviously.
“But I can understand it and I’ve got to take that on the chin.”
READ MORE: Harvey Elliott defends Jordan Henderson after England booing
The response of ‘not really’ understanding the abuse that came his way, shows how blinkered he and his manager are to this situation at present as it’s quite obvious what the issue is.
Our former captain says this isn’t the case but it does seem that he chose money over morals and now he’s having to pay the price for making that tough decision.
Harvey Elliott has come out in support of the midfielder and on a purely footballing basis, you can’t do anything but admire what the Sunderland-born veteran has done in the game.
To think there’d be no backlash from playing in a country where the human rights are so far behind what we see in this country, especially for the LGBTQIA+ community, is nothing short of baffling.
Taking accountability and owning the situation may help a little but really, the wrongs that have been committed by our former No.14 will likely not be forgiven.
Making your bed and lying in it is probably the only way forward for the England international, so he’ll have to learn to deal with jeers whenever he represents his nation.
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