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EURO 2016

FOOTBALL

Germans react with glee to England’s Iceland humiliation

Still upset by their British brothers voting for Brexit, Germans expressed an overwhelming sense of Schadenfreude at England's Euro 2016 exit.

Germans react with glee to England’s Iceland humiliation
Distraught England players after Iceland defeat. photo: DPA

God really does have a dark sense of humour.

Just days after the UK decided it would be stronger outside the European Union, the English national team was kicked out of Euro 2016 by Iceland. A country of 53 million was defeated by the 300,000 inhabitants of a freezing volcanic rock.

The irony was of course not lost on the people of Germany.

With their seemingly invincible national team already comfortably through to the quarterfinals of the tournament, people just couldn’t resist a little dig at the English.

Berlin Brit Ben Trott could hear the outpouring of vindictive joy from the bars of the capital through his flat window.

Berlin politician Christopher Lauer kicked things off by having a dig at Brexit leader Boris Johnson’s insistence that voting to leave the EU doesn’t mean that Britain has to leave any time soon.

But Lauer wasn’t done there. His next quip took aim at Brits north of Hadrian's Wall, who are desperately trying to prevent Brexit from applying to them.

Tanit Koch, the editor in chief of tabloid Bild, thought she’d get in on the act, making fun of the belief of many Brits that a referendum doesn’t have to be binding if you don’t like the result.

Another wit followed on a similar theme, asking at the end of the first half, when England were already 2-1 down, “are the English already collecting signatures so that the first half can be repeated?”

Left-wing columnist Sebastien Puschner, meanwhile, had a dig at England goalkeeper Joe Hart, who let a seemingly savable shot pass under his hands for the second Icelandic goal.

“Joe Hart, the David Cameron of goalkeepers,” he commented.

After a while, the avalanche of jokes was becoming too much for some to take.

“A suggestion for the common good,” wrote Sven Flohr. “You guys give me a euro for every Brexit joke and I’ll buy us Iceland with it.”

 

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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