More than 100 England fans arrested as fan hooliganism overshadows England’s 1-0 victory over the Netherlands

England manager Gareth Southgate has condemned the behaviour of a section of supporters

Simon Peach
Amsterdam
Saturday 24 March 2018 08:43 EDT
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Gareth Southgate disappointed over fan trouble as England win with 'pride' in Amsterdam

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England manager Gareth Southgate was disappointed to hear about fan trouble after his players won with "pride and some style" in the Netherlands.

Jesse Lingard's first international goal secured the Three Lions a fully-deserved 1-0 win in Friday's World Cup warm-up friendly, but on-field success came with the cloud of off-field issues in Amsterdam.

The local police force posted a statement on their official Twitter account announcing the number taken into custody on Friday had risen to 90, bringing the total of England supporters arrested over the past two days to over 100.

Almost 60 were detained after they were penned in by riot police in the red light district of the city, while a number of those in the ground booed the Dutch national anthem before kick-off.

Southgate had urged supporters to behave on the eve of Friday's friendly, but those words were clearly ignored by some of the 5,253 fans in the away section.

"I heard some of the booing of the anthem which obviously isn't acceptable," the England manger said.

"The rest, that's the first I've heard just outside before (coming into the press conference).

"Without knowing the details... obviously it's not something I want to hear because most of all for us, I think our players have represented their country really well tonight with pride and some style.

"So, anything else that takes away from that performance for them would be a great shame."

Eyebrows were raised by some of Southgate's choices in the penultimate friendly before announcing his World Cup squad, but those selected repaid their manager's faith with a positive performance in Amsterdam.

Gareth Southgate's men ran out deserved winners in Amsterdam
Gareth Southgate's men ran out deserved winners in Amsterdam (Getty)

Jesse Lingard's goal proved the difference as England ran out 1-0 victors against one of the most notable World Cup absentees, giving Southgate a first win in a high-profile friendly at the sixth time of asking.

"Really pleased with the quality of our football," the England boss said after beating Holland.

"The tactical awareness the players showed. I think Holland changed system three times within the game, and we were looking to see how our players would respond and the identified it each time.

"They managed to make use of the overloads we had in the right areas, so I was pleased.

"I knew we'd got pace and energy in the team, but I was really, really pleased with the composure especially playing through the first two-thirds of the pitch.

"At times, a bit more quality in the final third was needed, but I think we deserved the win.

"A well-taken goal which was started by our goalkeeper, and what looked a pretty clear penalty (on Marcus Rashford) to me as well.

"For me, lots of individual positives and I think probably the most pleasing thing is the players looked like they enjoyed their football tonight.

"They enjoyed (having) the ball and I was really pleased to see that."

PA

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