Gareth Southgate was left bemused by England being given medals for finishing third at the Nations League – but not at a presentation.
England beat Switzerland 6-5 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in Guimaraes on Sunday, with Jordan Pickford decisively saving from Josip Drmic after having scored one of his own.
The Three Lions lost to Belgium in a third-place play-off at the World Cup last year, after which FIFA president Gianni Infantino awarded bronze medals to players and staff members.
Southgate was unsure why there was not a similar formal presentation at UEFA's inaugural tournament.
"I've not seen them yet, so it's quite ironic really that we've had to go through another third-fourth play-off and the one we win, we don't even get them in front of the fans!" Southgate told reporters of his side's medals. "So, it's just lobbed in there, lobbed to us.
"I remember some of the guys who were at Liverpool that I played with said that [former manager] Joe Fagan used to throw the medals down the back of the bus in the following pre-season and say, 'Get on with it, and if you've played enough games, take one', and that probably would pretty much sum up where we'd be at with this.
"The only other medals I guess we've been involved with is the Tournoi [de France in 1997] in Glenn [Hoddle]'s time. So, it's nice that we've got some acknowledgement for what we've done over the last year. But, I think we'll all be parking it to one side and looking forward."
June 9, 2019