Neil Taylor and Chris Gunter denied Wales celebrated as England crashed out of Euro 2016, insisting they were cheering on underdogs Iceland.
Footage emerged of the Wales squad seemingly celebrating England’s elimination from the European Championships following their shock 2-1 defeat to minnows Iceland in the last 16 on Monday.
The result means Wales are the last remaining British nation in the tournament as they prepare to face Belgium in the quarter-finals on Friday.
But defensive duo Taylor and Gunter defended the actions of the playing group.
“As a squad we’ve followed the underdogs of this tournament all the way through, from Albania and how Hungary have been a breath of fresh air,” Taylor said.
“Iceland were written off really early as well. Obviously I know Gylfi [Sigurdsson], he plays for them and he’s explained to me a lot about Iceland and what they’re all about.
“I’d never really seen it first hand when they qualified, but to see it in this tournament they’ve been unbelievable. I think that was half of the celebrations was because of how well Iceland have done.
“I can understand how it could come across but I think as a group of players we’ve supported the underdogs through the tournament.”
Gunter added: “I think it may be easy to see it as being slightly over the top. It wasn’t meant to be that way. If you ask the squad as a whole, we’re ever so proud to be the last home nation team left in the tournament.
“We’ve come such a long way and football has a funny way of bringing out emotions, as we’ve seen when we played them a couple of weeks ago.
“But it certainly wasn’t supposed to come across in that way. I think it’s fantastic for the tournament that Iceland are still in it, another team like I say that was probably written off before the start of the tournament.”
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