A German girl pictured crying at Wembley after her team’s loss to England has asked for the £36,000 donated by well-wishers to go to UNICEF.  

The girl was abused online when she was shown in tears in TV pictures of the 2-0 defeat at the European Championships.

Former footballer Stan Collymore shared screengrabs showing how a minority of Twitter users had directed abuse at the her in reference to her nationality and Germany’s Nazi past.

Joel Hughes, from Pontypridd, told Sky News how he set up a JustGiving page with the aim of raising £500 to show that “not everyone from the UK is horrible and that we care”.

Eight days after the match, over £36,000 has been donated by more than 3,200 people.

The girl and her family have been found, according to an update on the fundraising page, and have thanked people for their “amazing support”.

A statement provided to JustGiving said: “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.”

UNICEF is the United Nations’ children’s agency – and JustGiving said “the legacy of the support from thousands of donors is that thousands of children from around the world will benefit”.

Mr Hughes said he was “beyond grateful” to the thousands who had shown their support for the girl and that messages had come from around the UK and Europe, and as far away as Japan.

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