Crying German football fan donates thousands raised for her to charity

The family of a German football fan who was mocked online after England’s victory over Germany at Wembley has been tracked down following an online fundraiser which raised £36,000.

The crowdfunding page was set up by 51-year-old Pontypridd man Joel Hughes who wanted to show her "not everyone from the UK is horrible and that we care" after the girl was hurled abuse online.

And now, after finding the girl and her family, she has requested that all the money be donated to charity.

The family have asked to remain anonymous to protect their daughter but they thanked the generosity of those who donated.

They also shared their daughter's request for the money raised to be donated to Unicef, which is dedicated to helping the world's most disadvantaged children and adolescents.

The full statement read: “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.”

Welshman Joel initially started the campaign to bring a bit of goodwill following the trolling which accompanied the coverage of the young girl crying in the stands at Wembley during the last-16 tie.

He also posted his thanks on the crowdfunding page. He said: "I am beyond grateful to all the supporters of this campaign without whose help we would not be where we are today – from the bottom of my heart, I thank you!

"Thanks also to all the warm messages of support from around the UK, Europe, and as far away as Japan. Huge thanks to the JustGiving team for all their invaluable help and to Unicef as the worthy charity chosen by the family.

"Finally I would like to give special thanks to the family at the heart of this campaign – their grace, courage, and generosity is an inspiration."