LION PRIDE WILL BEAT PREJUDICE
England team’s united stand is way forward in the battle against the evil of racism, says impressive Hudson-Odoi
CALLUM HUDSON-ODOI says England players now feel empowered to walk off the pitch in protest at racist behaviour.
Hudson-Odoi suffered “evil” abuse in Podgorica on his first start for the Three Lions in the 5-1 win against Montenegro last March – an experience which hardened his zero-tolerance attitude towards bigots.
Although he missed the vile treatment meted out to some of England’s players in Bulgaria on Monday, the Chelsea winger was encouraged by the united front with which players and manager Gareth Southgate dealt with the racist scourge.
Hudson-Odoi proved he is just about back to full throttle after Achilles tendon surgery in the summer with two superbly-taken goals for England’s Under-21 side in a five-goal romp against Austria.
It seems only a matter of time before he is restored to Southgate’s full squad – but football’s feeble attempts to tackle racism have not improved in his absence.
Hudson-Odoi, 18, spoke with impressive authority as he warned: “I say the same thing about it – it’s disgusting to hear or see players getting discriminated against. It is not right.
“I say myself, whenever that happens, you have
got to stick to together as a team – which is what the boys did in Bulgaria.
“I was really proud of them and in those situations, where they say they would walk off the pitch, it’s right [to make a stand] because no player should be treated differently.
“We are all equal, it is an equal game, so we all have to stay strong. Stay the same, and the boys dealt with it well. “Hopefully, everything will be sorted properly by UEFA – everything that happened was obviously not right, but we have to stick together as a team and move on from it.
“Gareth is the manager, he makes the decisions and we always have to stand by him.
“As players, we speak to the manager and captain to ask them what’s right and what’s wrong. If the manager says we stay on the pitch, we stay there, try to cope with it and we make the decision all as a team.
“If we think it is right, and we can focus and carry on playing, then we do that. “If not, and the manager says something different, then we do what the manager says.
“It’s all up to the manager and the captain, but it’s also a team decision, so we have a say in what’s happening.” Hudson-Odoi performed with impressive verve for the U21s on Tuesday as they maintained their 100 per cent record in qualifying for the Euro 2021 Championship in Hungary and Slovenia.
And he can feel the confidence returning to his game, adding: “My dribbling and everything will come back to what it was.
“Now I am feeling a bit more confident to get on the ball and do my stuff. As the games go on I will get fitter, get more opportunities to run at people, and I already feel better.”