A distraught German girl who was pictured in tears after her team lost to England has asked that the £36,000 raised for her by well-wishers go to charity.
A JustGiving page was started to show solidarity with the nine-year-old fan after some England fans cheered at pictures of her in tears when Germany lost 2-0 to England.
The lack of sensitivity by some supporters towards Germany during the heated Euro 2020 match at London's Wembley stadium sparked widespread condemnation online.
Heartbreaking footage shows the girl, clad in a German kit, sobbing as she hugs a relative while Germany's Thomas Muller is replaced after failing to score.
What do you think of this story? Let us know in the comments section below
Former footballer Stan Collymore shared screengrabs showing how some people on Twitter had trolled the girl while referencing her nationality and Germany's Nazi past, Sky News reports.
To counter the hatred, Joel Hughes, from Pontypridd, decided to launch a crowdfunder to show the German fan that the minority of people who trolled her are not representative of the wider population in England.
He told Sky News he set up the crowdfund last week with the aim of raising £500 to show that "not everyone from the UK is horrible and that we care".
People from all over the world contributed to the cause and the target has since been smashed beyond anyone's expectation as £36,000 have been raised thanks to the donations of more than 3,200 people.
The girl's family has now been tracked down and in an update on the JustGiving page they have thanked well-wishers for the "amazing support".
But they said their daughter's wish would be for the funds to go to UNICEF.
A statement reads: "In the interests of our daughter and our family we would like to remain private however we wish to thank everyone for your amazing support.
"Our daughter would like to request your generous donations go to UNICEF, knowing that your kindness will do good."
