EAMON DUNPHY is desperate to see Germany beat England at Euro 2020 as believes the fallout from a Three LIons win would be unbearable for the Irish.
The outspoken Irish football journalist and broadcaster told The Sun’s Off the Ball podcast his desire to see Die Mannschaft triumph isn’t born out of any anti-English sentiment but rather a fear of what would likely unfold in the event of an England win.
It’s fair to say he paints a pretty vivid and not entirely inaccurate picture too.
Dunphy said: "I have to be honest, I hope Germany beat them.
"Now I'm not anti-English at all. I lived there for 17 years, happily.
"But imagine if they win. Imagine Boris jumping up and down and visiting the team.
"Imagine how impossible life will be for us all if England were to win the Euros. Or even if they beat Germany.
"So for emotional reasons I don't want England to beat Germany."
He continued: "It's not a very noble sentiment but that's the way I feel."
Despite his tongue-in-cheek hopes for an early England exit, the Dublin-born star credits his move to Manchester United on an apprenticeship in 1962 with saving him from a life of crime.
"If I didn't go to England I would have been a gangster,” he once told the Irish Independent.
Dunphy has never shied away from criticising the England team in the past.
He famously once described Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard as a “nothing player” while fellow Three Lions favourite Rio Ferdinand dismissed as “a clown.”
Dunphy’s harshest criticism may have been reserved for his own efforts as a professional though with the former Millwall, Charlton and Reading midfielder claiming he was a “failed Second Division footballer.”