Why did the England players put medals on and then take them off?

[Opalfeet]

I'm intrigued 🤔

@Normandy144

They do accept the medal - it gets put around their necks. It's pretty common to be honest. It's not being sore losers - they've congratulated Italy. Their professional sports people with natural competitive streaks they don't want a medal reminding them of the loss.

It's classless and graceless behaviour, the sporting equivalent of how George Galloway reacts to his many election defeats. I can't recall ever seeing this in any other sport, we try and teach our kids to be sportsmanlike but this will influence school football teams up and down the country. Petulance is not an attractive trait, yet it seems to be one which runs through the English psyche

There aren't many good losers who make it to the top in football. You have to want to win. Really really want to win. And really not want a runners up medal. And it's a normal behaviour you see in every Euro cup final, every FA cup, even the Carabao cup.

I imagine those who get to the top in any sport make it there because they really really want to win, and yet most are far more gracious in defeat. Just because it's "normal behaviour" in football doesn't make it right. I'm not in the UK, but our top sporting teams know how to behave in the face of disappointment and I couldn't imagine that sort of thing going down well here.

@Mandalay246

There aren't many good losers who make it to the top in football. You have to want to win. Really really want to win. And really not want a runners up medal. And it's a normal behaviour you see in every Euro cup final, every FA cup, even the Carabao cup.

I imagine those who get to the top in any sport make it there because they really really want to win, and yet most are far more gracious in defeat. Just because it's "normal behaviour" in football doesn't make it right. I'm not in the UK, but our top sporting teams know how to behave in the face of disappointment and I couldn't imagine that sort of thing going down well here.

Maybe if you tell us the last time your unnamed country reached the final of a football tournament we could judge for ourselves?

Maybe if you tell us the last time your unnamed country reached the final of a football tournament we could judge for ourselves?

Football is very much a lesser sport in my unnamed country - but we do play other sports and frequently get to the finals (and even win sometimes!)

@HelpLegalAdvicePlease

Because they're sore losers and don't want to wear 'second place' medals.

Not sore losers at all. A very common thing that lots of teams do not just England. Funny though how it’s only an issue when England do it.

@Mandalay246

Maybe if you tell us the last time your unnamed country reached the final of a football tournament we could judge for ourselves?

Football is very much a lesser sport in my unnamed country - but we do play other sports and frequently get to the finals (and even win sometimes!)

I've no idea if that's true or not - for some reason MNers always get coy when asked to name the country they compare unfavourably with Britain - but if you watch football, you'll know it's the norm for players to remove 'losers'' medals immediately. The Italians would almost certainly have done the same had they lost.

I can't recall ever seeing this in any other sport

You've never seen the faces on (some) F1 drivers then, when they 'just' come second

Most reflect back on careers with pride, even if they never got the wins they wanted. But in the moment they are clearly pissed off with coming 2nd.

I can't recall ever seeing this in any other sport

It really does happen in a number of other sports...

au.sports.yahoo.com/rugby-world-cup-england-sore-losers-medals-runner-up-222644056.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAN4shuyOpxORMfBP6stJcCIy8r_DwwaeW6xxEfCQizReFodxt6x6ih12hHTFobmTUgEIhMSDwZ2sDCTKr5zeTT-pU_oVyfoXCr-5a4o-D9mpgUn7xNo8ugCG56wxfX07Fou1ZJE3E57Jgw3rcGy9ChtK5In6AoJCMhxFibqNYyhr

www.espn.co.uk/nhl/story/_/id/21984049/nhl-medal-toss-heard-round-world-was-glorious

but if you watch football, you'll know it's the norm for players to remove 'losers'' medals immediately. The Italians would almost certainly have done the same had they lost.

If that is true then it says a lot about the type of people who play football, and their fans. Most other sportspeople seem able to accept that they have to lose at times, in public at least. Sore losers are not highly regarded here.

if you watch football, you'll know it's the norm for players to remove 'losers'' medals immediately

It's that "norm" that concerns me. Nobody suggests it never happens in any other sport, but for it to become a norm says a great deal about the mentality around the game

You've never seen the faces on (some) F1 drivers then, when they 'just' come second

It’s difficult to hide your face though but it’s not difficult to leave a medal on for a few seconds.

I think they did well to congratulate Italy which must have been difficult and played an incredible game and it’s such a shame that they are deemed losers and people feel like they should be ashamed of 2nd place.

Well, we could always adopt your ways.
After all, what does the most successful sport in history know?

It's not being ashamed of second. That's YOUR mentality.
It's that winning was their aim, and they aren't content with 2nd. Discontent is not the same as shame.

@Mandalay246

but if you watch football, you'll know it's the norm for players to remove 'losers'' medals immediately. The Italians would almost certainly have done the same had they lost.

If that is true then it says a lot about the type of people who play football, and their fans. Most other sportspeople seem able to accept that they have to lose at times, in public at least. Sore losers are not highly regarded here.

I have zero interest in your mysterious unnamed country, but what 'type of people' play and support football, exactly?

@Puzzledandpissedoff

if you watch football, you'll know it's the norm for players to remove 'losers'' medals immediately

It's that "norm" that concerns me. Nobody suggests it never happens in any other sport, but for it to become a norm says a great deal about the mentality around the game

The 'mentality' which says that a medal you already knew you could have before kicking a ball that night is meaningless?

They congratulated the Italians. They stayed on the field to receive their medals. They just didn't want to wear them longer than they had to. I'm not seeing some troubling 'mentality' here.

It's not being ashamed of second. That's YOUR mentality.

I’m not ashamed of them coming second though!
I’m incredibly proud and think they played fantastically and should be celebrated!

You're comparing apples and pears. Here, and in many other countries, there isn't another sport where there is such a huge fan base, so much passion. At Wimbledon they play for themselves. These men were playing for their country, in front of an enormous proportion of the population who wanted them to win for the country. They weren't sore losers or ungracious. There's a lot of snobbery and sneering on this thread by people who don't even give a shit about football. Go back to your football-free lives if you don't like it.

The 'mentality' which says that a medal you already knew you could have before kicking a ball that night is meaningless?

No - the one that regards gracelessness as so commplace as to be the norm

No - the one that regards gracelessness as so commplace as to be the norm

You seem to be exemplifying it with aplomb

@toocold54

It's not being ashamed of second. That's YOUR mentality.

I’m not ashamed of them coming second though!
I’m incredibly proud and think they played fantastically and should be celebrated!

Yes, but the implication was they THEY are ashamed, and I think that's your interpretation. I don't see them removing the medal as shame, only of disappointment.

I have zero interest in your mysterious unnamed country, but what 'type of people' play and support football, exactly?

Graceless people obviously.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

The 'mentality' which says that a medal you already knew you could have before kicking a ball that night is meaningless?

No - the one that regards gracelessness as so commplace as to be the norm

It would have been graceless if they'd refused to congratulate the Italians or walked off the pitch before the medals ceremony. Quietly removing a consolation 'prize' is not graceless. The only people who seem to think it is are those who have become instant experts on football having watched about 5 matches this month.

@Mandalay246

I have zero interest in your mysterious unnamed country, but what 'type of people' play and support football, exactly?

Graceless people obviously.

Obviously.

If you watched closely, you will have noticed that Henderson & Southgate didn't remove them.

Two men we can all look to for true leadership in the game, men who have been around the block enough times to recognise that reaching the final of a major tournament IS an achievement enough in itself.

Perhaps wondering if it will be their last one? But mostly showing that win or lose, reaching the final was an amazing outcome, the result of years of dedication, skill, training and personal sacrifices.

Yes, removing finalists medals has become the norm in football. But it shouldn't be. 'Fans' need to be shown that losing the big match isn't the end of the world. It's not an excuse to tear up town centres. It's not important enough to punch your loved ones. It is sport. No more and no less. Some days you win, and some days you lose. Obviously every player is there because they CARE about winning, they are at the pinnacle, losing hurts emotionally.

But accepting a finalists medal graciously and recognising the achievement of your whole team sets a further example to 'fans' across the country of how losing can and should be done. The whole team have been exemplary with their behaviours and interviews all tournament on this. But Henderson and Southgate have moved the needle still further on what is the 'accepted' norm in football.

Gentlemen, I salute you.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

if you watch football, you'll know it's the norm for players to remove 'losers'' medals immediately

It's that "norm" that concerns me. Nobody suggests it never happens in any other sport, but for it to become a norm says a great deal about the mentality around the game

I think for many countries there is almost a collective obsession around football which adds to the "second place means you've lost" mentality. There are communities who eat, sleep and breath football (and as has been pointed out it's a way out of extreme poverty). I'm sure I've heard of a player who missed a penalty in a major tournament - a South American team? - who had death threats in the immediate aftermath and this was waaaay before SM.

But yes in some parts of the world football is bigger than religion. The feeling of defeat for players at this level is something you or I will never ever experience.

Looking back at how these young men have conducted themselves on and off the pitch throughout the tournament, some of them still very young, with all the expectations piled on them, after they shook the winners hands I'm not going to judge them negatively for removing their medals.