England’s Dele Alli. (Source: Reuters)
After England’s 2-1 win against Slovakia in the World Cup qualifiers on Monday, Dele Alli became the talk of the football world, who appeared to show his middle finger in the 77th minute to the French referee Clement Turpin after not being awarded a free kick for being blocked off by a defender.
Alli on Tuesday tweeted about the incident, apologising for the offence caused. He said that the gesture was a joke between Kyle Walker and him. “Just to clarify, the gesture tonight was a joke between me and my good friend Kyle Walker! Apologies for any offence caused! Great win 2nite,” he posted.
Just to clarify, the gesture tonight was a joke between me and my good friend Kyle Walker! Apologies for any offence caused! Great win 2nite
— Dele (@dele_official) 4 September 2017
After the match, coach Gareth Southgate said, “Dele and Kyle were messing about and Dele has made a gesture towards Kyle. They have a strange way of communicating … but as I say, I have not seen the incident.”
“It probably detracts from what has been his best performance whilst I have been England manager and hopefully we will be talking about that instead of this,” he added.
The win assured England top spot in Group F with 20 points, while Slovakia settled in the second place with 15.
