Mason Greenwood Photo: VCG

The coronavirus has changed football. Games are so often behind closed doors and the players who play them have been kept in a bubble before and after to make sure they can go ahead. They have no contact with the outside world to speak of - or at least they are not meant to, which is where England's stars in the making Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood fell foul.

The pair appeared in the Snapchat videos of some young local ladies during England's trip to Iceland for a hard-fought and harder to watch 1-0 win over the hosts in Reykjavik. Gareth Southgate's Three Lions were allowed into the country without going through the mandatory five-day quarantine if they stayed in a bubble at the team hotel.

Apparently Foden and Greenwood wanted to celebrate their full international debuts - Foden from the start and Greenwood on as a substitute - by meeting some people outside the bubble. The news broke in Icelandic media and the English FA was swift to act, sending the pair back to Manchester - where Foden plays for Pep Guardiola's City and Greenwood has broken through at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United - on seperate flights, no less.

Southgate had addressed that in an earlier press conference to explain sending them home: "Given the procedures we have to follow they will have to travel home separately."

England's manager had already told the press that there was no choice but to dismiss them from the camp: "Unfortunately this morning it was brought to my attention that the two boys have broken the COVID guidelines in terms of our secure bubble. We had to decide they couldn't have interaction with the rest of the team."

Ironically, Southgate had been left with no choice but to call them up to the team. The pair are expected to be the future of the Three Lions and would almost certainly have featured in England's goalless draw with Denmark in ­Copenhagen on Tuesday night had they not been sent home in disgrace.

Now both have been punished and they have since apologized.

Foden, 20, went first, offering his mea culpa for being caught out by social media on Twitter.

"Following the story which has emerged today regarding my actins in Iceland, I want to make a full apology," he wrote.

"I apologise to Gareth Southgate, to my England teammates, to the staff, supporters, and also my Club and my family.

"When I was called up by Gareth for these games, my first reaction was that of immense pride. To pull on that short for the senior team in my England debut was an incredible privilege.

"I am a young player with a lot to learn, but I am aware of the huge responsibility I have in representing Manchester City and England at this level.

"On this occasion I made a poor decision and my behaviour didn't meet the standards expected of me.

"I breached COVID-19 protocols put in place to protect myself and my England colleagues. As a consequence I will now miss the opportunity to travel to Denmark with the squad, and that hurts.

"I will learn a valuable lesson from this error in judgement and I wish Gareth and the team good luck this week."

Greenwood's apology followed, with the 18-year-old doing so via a statement through his club, having deleted his Twitter account following the incident.

"Having now had the chance to reflect on what's happened, I can only apologise to everyone for the embarrassment I have caused," it read.

"It was irresponsible of me to break the Covid-19 protocols which are in place to protect players, staff and the public. In particular, I want to apologise to Gareth Southgate, for letting him down, when he had shown great trust in me.

"Playing for England was one of the proudest moments in my life and I only have myself to blame for this huge mistake. I promise my family, the fans, Manchester United and England that this is a lesson I will learn from."

Both of the youngsters' clubs had condemned their player's actions.

"Manchester City FC are aware of the story which has emerged today from the England national team camp in relation to the behaviour of Phil Foden," City said.

"We have also seen the comments from England manager Gareth Southgate. It is clear that Phil's actions were totally inappropriate.

"His behaviour not only directly contravenes strict guidelines related to COVID-19, but also falls well below the standard expected of a Manchester City player and England international.

"The club supports the FA regarding this incident, and officials from the club are now in touch in relation to Phil's enforced early return to the UK.

"We have no further comment to make on this matter."

"Manchester United are liaising with the Football Association and are disappointed with the actions of Mason Greenwood over this situation," United said in a statement.

The disappointment will not last long, at least in football terms, with the endless news cycle driven into even more of a spin by the new English Premier League season. Foden and Greenwood will have more time than they would like to consider their actions as both Manchester clubs do not play on the opening weekend because of their own European adventures earlier in the summer.

They will be called up again, their talent decrees it, just as they will not be punished by their clubs for long, if at all.

As for England, they are in pretty illustrious company when it comes to getting into trouble overseas.

World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore was accused of theft in Bogota on the way to defending their trophy in Mexico in 1970; Paul Gascoigne and the whole of the Euro 1996 squad were vilified for their pre-tournament antics in Hong Kong; and David Beckham was called a "stupid boy" after being sent off against Argentina at France 1998.

They all won back the media, the FA and the general public. Foden and Greenwood will do the same.
Newspaper headline: England awry