We can reveal the towering centre-back was the only Three Lions player to break the clampdown on foul language against Croatia on Friday night.
He yelled “F***” in the 51st minute, when the opposition were awarded a corner despite his claims he did not touch the ball.
Manager Southgate had told his team to avoid swearing when they played in front of empty stands in Rijeka.
The Sun on Sunday got a lip reader and a journalist with high- definition headphones to monitor the Uefa Nations League tie.
While our lads fluffed their lines in front of goal, the potty-mouth ban was regarded as a resounding success.
England fan and lip reader John Cassidy said: “You normally see a huge amount of swearing in football.
But having watched the entire match, I was only able to pick up one incident, when Harry Maguire used the F-word in a moment of frustration.
“The rest of the team was remarkably restrained.”
The 0-0 draw was played behind closed doors after Uefa gave Croatia a two-match crowd ban after a swastika was marked on their pitch before a game in 2015.
Southgate was worried microphones would pick up his players’ expletives and warned them not to turn the air blue.
When a decision was awarded against him in the 31st minute, midfielder Jordan Henderson meekly asked: “What’s that, ref?”
Just after the hour, defender Kyle Walker was seen moaning about a bad tackle, stating: “He was touching me . . . NOT me.”
Then in the 72nd minute, winger Raheem Sterling asked: “How’s that a foul?”
And Henderson mildly expressed his anger again just before the end when he shouted: “Nooooooo!”
The Sun Says
CONGRATULATIONS to the England players for managing to stick — mostly — to Gareth Southgate’s new swearing rules.
Playing behind closed doors, any rogue Anglo-Saxon would certainly have been heard by TV audiences across Europe.
The air might not have been so clean in the pubs and front rooms back home, however.
Especially in response to Kane and Rashford’s finishing . . .
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