Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha has defended Cole Palmer for the way he celebrated England’s U-21 European Championship win.
England defeated Spain 1-0 in Saturday’s final in Georgia, bringing an end to a 39-year wait to win the U-21 Euros.
City youngster Palmer played a key role for the Young Lions throughout the tournament, and it was his free-kick that – via a deflection – secured England the title.
After the game the 20-year-old drew criticism from City teammate Sergio Gomez, who was ‘surprised’ by the way Palmer celebrated England’s winner and James Trafford’s late penalty save.
Gomez said Palmer, “did not want to apologise or anything,” while Palmer put his “over-the-top” celebrations down to his frustration at Spanish play-acting.
Onuoha understands Palmer’s actions
Speaking on ESPN FC, former City man Nedum Onuoha came to Palmer’s defence.
“I think we get a lot of frustration when somebody comes and tries to antagonise the other team, but it tends to come after they’ve scored,” he said.
“So one of the best ways to stop that is to stop them from scoring. As soon as somebody scores it’s up to the referee to decide whether it crosses the line or not.
“I knew he [Palmer] was a bit of a wind-up, I didn’t know he was going to try and wind up a whole nation! I can’t see many holidays for him in the south of Spain any time soon.
“Fair play, he thought he’d scored a goal in the final of the European under-21s. Big goal as well, he thought this is going to change the game, and he was unhappy with how the game was going.
“I’m sure Cole, in reflection, might reach out to him [Gomez] and apologise. But straight after the game Cole’s probably just thinking ‘We’ve just won the Euros, so let’s just enjoy that and not feel like we have to apologise for something that happened’.
“I’m sure they’ll deal with that, and if they don’t then Sergio might be hacking him down in training in three weeks’ time!”
On Gomez, Onuoha said: “I think Sergio Gomez had a good tournament, he was joint-top scorer, he was playing well in that game. But sometimes it’s not just about you.”
