Dele Alli is no stranger to controversy. It what looked like a routine England 2-1 win over Slovakia in UEFA World Cup qualifying, he may have stirred up some more. A random camera shot late in the match showed the Tottenham Hotspur star flipping off someone or something:
Is this the sequel to the Dele Alli wave? pic.twitter.com/AwfWVFI9OP
— Rob Armstrong (@RobArmstrong_wh) September 4, 2017
Unfortunately, we don’t know what the exact context of the gesture is. Was it in anger at an opponent? A playful thing taken out of context? We won’t know until he’s asked about it. Whatever the meaning of it, you can bet it’ll be blown out of proportion by the media and possibly result in some kind of retroactive punishment by UEFA.
Hopefully it doesn’t come down to that, but with Dele’s history of unsporting behavior on the field, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. All we have to go on is a random clip and a ton of speculation. Perhaps he was just making sure everyone knows that England are No. 1 in their qualifying group?