TYRONE MINGS had worked bloody hard for this England debut.
Instead, the Aston Villa defender will always reflect on his England debut as the night racist scum proved they are alive and kicking in this part of the world.
That is despite all the pathetic denials from Bulgaria’s football association before the game.
For Mings, who lived in a homeless shelter with his mother as a youngster, there was no fast track to the Premier League and international football.
So the night he pulled on that England shirt for the first time, at the not-so-young age of 26, it should have been a fantastic night.
Particularly when you consider he was out for more than a year with a career-threatening knee injury at Bournemouth.
Mings was on the end of some disgusting monkey chants in the first-half and his “Hey, did you hear that?” complaint to the linesman triggered step one of Uefa’s racism protocol.
Step two was enacted just before half-time and the Aston Villa centre-half claimed the action taken helped.
Speaking after the game, the 25-year-old said: “I don’t think anything could spoil this moment for me, personally.
“It was obviously disappointing, but I think the way that we handled it and the appropriate steps that were in place and the protocol that the team and us as players followed I think was effective.
“So obviously disappointing to go through what we went through, but very proud of the way that we handled it and obviously let the football do the talking.”
Mings was clearly aware of what was going on in the stands and said: “I did yeah. I said to the linesman at the time and obviously notified the captain, which was I think the appropriate first step and then from there it escalated.
“And second half I think was better, so we obviously made a collective decision at half-time to come back out and play the game and see if anything changed.
“And like I said we made a collective decision and I think it was the right one to make at the time.”
Today we should all celebrate Mings. And we should all commend our England players, who locked arms in defiance and united on the pitch as one.
Mings has been a great example to non-league players who have considered quitting the sport.
But even more impressively, he proved to be an outstanding example to any player of any race who decides to speak out, rather than carry on playing as if nothing has happened.
Mings did anything but.
The centre-back was trying to play his way into the game on a poor pitch.
Instead, during the first half, he turned to an official and said: “Hey, did you hear that.”
Mings knew the consequences. But he also knew the rest of the England team had his back.
Captain Harry Kane, who spoke to the players about potential problems at St George’s Park eight days ago, led the complaints.
Jordan Henderson was not far behind while Kieran Trippier was not afraid to go over to the home bench and speak with officials during a second hold-up.
This is what this current England squad is doing, walking the walk rather than merely talking the talk. It is something to be hugely proud of as a nation.
You always got the feeling something unsavoury was going to happen here in Sofia.
Before the match started, England’s fans jeered the Bulgarian national anthem and started singing about Harry Maguire.
Marcus Rashford struck early with a decent bit of skill and shot that seemed to go straight through keeper Plamen Iliev.
And the home defence was all over the place again when Raheem Sterling crossed to give Ross Barkley a tap-in.
At 2-0, England fans started singing: “You racist b*****ds, you know what you are.”
Then, in the 28th minute, after Mings reported abuse, came the public address announcement warning that the game could be abandoned, the first part of Uefa’s three-step protocol.
Three minutes later, Kane’s cross was perfect for Barkley to get his second with a glancing header. He punched the air defiantly in the direction of home supporters.
With two minutes left of the first half, the match was held up again and Croatian referee Ivan Bebek ran over to speak to England boss Gareth Southgate.
We expected another announcement but there was nothing and the game continued. Six minutes of injury-time were shown and Kane crossed for Sterling to tap home the fourth.
Come the second half, and after a flurry of misses from England, Sterling buried the fifth as fans sang: “Who put the ball in the racists’ net? Raheem f*****g Sterling.”
As home fans made Nazi salutes, Kane buried England’s sixth, still not enough to qualify though after Kosovo beat Montenegro 2-0.
England supporters, who were warned they faced a long wait after the final whistle, gave a rendition of God Save The Queen.
Meanwhile home fans started to drift into the night after a sorry occasion for their nation.
Let us not forget there was already a large area of this stadium cordoned off because of racist behaviour at previous games.
And outside the ground, there were several stickers with racist slogans.
These fans are a disgrace, which is a shame as Sofia is a lovely city.
It is incredible to think there is a chance Bulgaria could even end up with a spot at Euro 2020 via the Nations League.
And their potential opponents in the semi-finals? It could be Scotland — and on this showing they will fancy beating this lot.
If Bulgaria do make the March play-offs, let us hope Scotland can change the habit of a lifetime and win convincingly. Maybe humiliate them, as England did last night.
Because the one thing we do not want is Bulgaria and their racist fans anywhere near Euro 2020.
