Removing their medals made them look churlish. Anyone think we are ungrateful % sore looser’s 😂
Having played football for many years and both won and lost cup finals I can understand why the players removed their medals from their necks. After giving your all in a game only to then lose, the medal then feels like a big losers badge for all of the crowd to look at! You just want to stick it into your pocket and go and get changed but out of respect for your opponents you stick around and politely applaud as they are presented with the trophy and winners medals.
24 or 48 hours later you start to feel a little differently and the medal you have stuck away in a drawer takes on new meaning, as it becomes a runners up emblem, so it comes out of the drawer and goes on a shelf as the reminder of achievement. (But also occasionally of what nearly was!)
For that reason I’ll give the players (and manager) a pass for removing their medals.