BBC Euro 2024 expert cracks funny but risky LGBTQ joke at England match

BBC Euro 2024 expert Thomas Hitzlsperger cracked a risky joke on social media during England’s last-16 showdown with Slovakia on Sunday afternoon. The Three Lions needed a stunning 95th-minute equaliser from Jude Bellingham to avoid an early exit, with Harry Kane heading home a winner at the start of extra time.

England were dismal for much of Sunday’s clash as Ivan Schranz nudged Slovakia in front midway through the first half.

And, with the Three Lions staring over the precipice with just seconds of the 90 minutes remaining, Bellingham launched a sensational bicycle kick into the corner of the goal.

Substitute Ivan Toney then teed-up a close-range header for Kane after play had resumed in extra time. And Gareth Southgate’s side hung on to book a quarter-final against Switzerland.

Former Aston Villa midfielder Hitzlsperger was on duty for the BBC during the match to offer his expert analysis.

And at half-time, the German posted a picture of the food menu at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen to X, with an offering of fagottini being served up.

Hitzlsperger, who came out as gay at the start of 2014 after calling time on his playing career, accompanied the picture of the menu with the caption: “Fagottini. Somebody must‘ve known that I‘m here today.” And he added a rainbow emoji at the end.

Hitzlsperger discussed his decision to come out during an interview with ESPN last year. And the 42-year-old told the outlet: “I really had a good time because I'd say 95 percent of the actions were positive.

“Almost all around the world, people were saying ‘it's great what you did’, or ‘finally somebody spoke up’.

“And even though I wasn't the first one in the football world, but one of the first, and people said that it's great that somebody takes the courage and talk about it. For me, it was also important to add something to [the] conversation.”

Hitzlsperger has been penning a BBC column during his time at Euro 2024. And ahead of the knockout stages of the tournament, the former player wrote: “I’ve seen a lot of happy faces on my travels and I think I speak for a lot of Germans when I say things are going well.

“It's been amazing to see so many people coming over and enjoying themselves and, overall, the tournament has lived up to my expectations too.

“A lot of the things I had hoped for beforehand, from the behaviour of all the fans to the quality of the football, have become reality.

“I know from first-hand experience that the German train system is not as good as people probably expected. But hopefully that is the only thing that has been disappointing so far.”