Football: Southgate tells England players not to cross the line while celebrating wins

London, June 16 (IANS): With Manchester City's England players in celebration mode following the club's triumph in the Champions League last week, the national manager Gareth Southgate has warned his players, especially key midfielder Jack Grealish to cut down on alcohol consumption in the run-up to international friendlies.

Grealish is known for his celebrations after winning titles or trophies. He reportedly went on a binge after Pep Guardiola's side defeated Inter Milan to win the Champions League 2023 title. The Manchester City players have been celebrating since that win and now Southgate has warned that they might miss more national team matches if they continue this.

Southgate had anyway decided not to include any of the Manchester City players for England's friendly with Malta but has also warned the players not to cross the line during celebrations.

"There is a line," England's manager told local media ahead of Friday's match. "But in our head, we weren't thinking of including the City players for this game. We've been through this scenario three or four times in the last few years with our players leading into games. It's a huge occasion.

"We've got a lot of our players in for the full training week and we were able to work tactically. And we needed to give those guys [City's players] the time to take everything in.

"But point No. 1, they all wanted to come in to be with the group, which is fantastic. The focus has been good." Southgate was asked if it was excessive of Grealish to party for three days.

"As I have said, I have spoken with the players and we have talked about where our focus needs to be and where we need them to be," he said. "We have acknowledged what they have experienced and that is for me to manage over the coming weeks," Southgate was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

Such celebrations by the players were earlier were private affairs but in modern times of social media, they can't be hidden as everyone posts their photographs on social media.

Having come to know such news, Southgate has left it for the players to decide what is more important to them, celebrating the victory or playing the next match for England.