Phil Neville appeals for England privacy
Phil Neville has appealed for David Beckham and the rest of the England squad to be left in privacy at their team hotel to prepare for the Euro 2004 finals.
Beckham was photographed on his hotel balcony, wearing only his underwear, while Neville – his former Manchester United team-mate – was also pictured in his shorts.
Although there are strict security measures around the Solplay Hotel in Lisbon, neighbouring apartment blocks still overlook the site.
Neville declared: “We’ve got tight security at our hotel and we’re very private but people are still getting pictures so it’s something that we’ve just got to get on with really.
“But the security measures are in place so I can’t see it happening again. At least I hope it doesn’t happen again. People should just respect the privacy of the squad.”
Neville was rather more optimistic about the behaviour of England fans, who are starting to arrive in Portugal in their thousands ahead of Sunday’s opening game against France.
With almost 2,500 banning orders now in place to prevent potential hooligans from leaving the UK this summer, Neville is confident that peace will be maintained in Portugal.
“Since Euro 2000, the (UK) government and the security people have gone to great lengths to sort out that side of the game,” he insisted.
“Our fans behaved impeccably in Japan and Korea at the 2002 World Cup and you very rarely see any hooliganism at club level.
“So I think our fans will come out here and have a great time. It should be a great occasion and I’m not worried at all about trouble as the security measures are all in place.”
The Manchester United defender is instead concentrating on the start of the tournament this weekend as the squad finalise their preparations.
“The initial excitement of being over here and settling into our hotel has gone now,” he concluded.
“We couldn’t be in better surroundings but everyone just can’t wait to get the tournament started.”
