German girl crying after her team lost in a football match against England. Photo: BBC.
A fundraiser for a little German supporter has surpassed an astonishing £35,000 after she was laughed at by England fans when shown crying on-screen and later attacked online.
The person behind the crowdfunding, Joel Hughes, said that after Tuesday’s win for England on Wembley, social media users “piled in” on the little girl’s photo.
He labelled the reactions as “pretty horrible, to put it mildly”.
He explained why he picked this cause, but admitted he needs help from the big old internet to find the girl so she can enjoy some treats with the money raised.
“Yes, there are more people affected by this than just this little girl but hey, this is just meant to be a token of goodwill. Yes there are other potential good causes – but I’ve picked this,” Hughes said.
He added: “I’d like to think that the parents of the little girl will spend this on a nice treat for her so that she knows that not everyone from the UK is horrible and that we care.
“No, I don’t think this will change the world. But it can do one thing for that little girl.
“No, I don’t know who the girl is (yet) but I know social media can sort that out.”
Hughes was only intending to raise £500 when he set up the fundraiser earlier this week.
Upon seeing the thousands coming in, he declared himself overwhelmed by the support, saying it’s “obviously really struck a chord”.
But not everyone was impressed by the fundraiser.
One Facebook user said: “It’s a football game, get a grip and think about children in UK that actually need this money you have raised.
“A lot of English children that are suffering either from health conditions, abuse from parents, or parents losing jobs through Covid.
“Please help someone who needs it. Not just a girl who is upset from frigging football.”
Another added: “My kids cry all the time. And I always upload the funny reasons to Facebook. Can I have 6k?”
Many Twitter users were outraged by England supporters’ behaviour, who booed during the German national anthem.
After the little girl was shown crying on live TV and fans starting laughing, many online users left swear words and xenophobic comments under her viral image.
In response, other people labelled the online abuse as “disgusting”, “sickening”, “heartbreaking” and “a disgrace”.
“I want to hug that beautiful little German girl,” one user said, adding: “In my world, that’s what you do, or feel, when a child is crying.”
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