Jordan Henderson vows to support Ben White after England fans boo defender
The defender had not played for his country in four years after making himself unavailable for selection under Sir Gareth Southgate
England midfielder Jordan Henderson has vowed to support Ben White after the Arsenal defender was booed by fans during the friendly draw with Uruguay.
Listen to this article
White had the rare ignominy of being booed by the Wembley crowd after putting England 1-0 up.
The 28-year-old was making his first England appearance since he walked out of the 2022 World Cup squad due to “personal reasons” and then made himself unavailable for selection for the remainder of Sir Gareth Southgate’s reign.
Thomas Tuchel wanted to give him a “second chance” and White endured an eventful 25 minutes on the pitch.
He was booed as he came on to replace Fikayo Tomori, then jeered again as he opened the scoring before giving away a late penalty which allowed Federico Valverde to earn Uruguay a draw.
Read more: Jurgen Klopp hails Mohamed Salah as one of Liverpool’s all-time greats
Henderson knows how it feels to receive the ire of the Wembley crowd, after he was booed following his ill-fated move to Saudi Arabia.
The midfielder said: “As team-mates we are always there to support. A lot of the fans will be in support of all of the players.
“I have been through it myself, but that is part and parcel of being an England player.
“Some of the fans probably don’t even know why they are booing, they listen to what is being said in the media, and a lot of the time what the media says isn’t true.
“Not many people know the ins and outs of what happened in Qatar and it is for us to deal with internally.
“Ben has been good since he came back in and we will support him as team-mates.
“A few of us have been there, it is difficult when it is you, but you have to try not to take it too personally, the media can spin things in certain ways, which isn’t always the truth and then fans can pick up on that and think it is the truth.
“It is really difficult when that happens, so it is important for us to make sure he is OK, which I am sure he is. I was delighted he got on and got a goal, which is the most important thing.”