The 21-year-old posted a lengthy apology to his team-mates and fans after his missed effort in the shootout against Italy
Jadon Sancho has opened up about his missed penalty in England’s Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy and the racial abuse that followed.
The winger was one of three England stars – alongside Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka – to miss his spot kick in the shootout at Wembley, allowing Italy to win the European crown.
Sancho has apologised to his team-mates and fans after failing to score with his effort, but has vowed to bounce back with his national team.
What has been said?
“I’ve had a couple of days to reflect on Sunday’s final and still feel a mix of emotions,” he posted on social media.
“I would like to say sorry to all my team-mates, coaching staff and most of all the fans who I let down. This is by far the worst feeling I’ve felt in my career. It’s hard to even put into words the real feeling, but there were so many positives to take away from this tournament though the defeat will hurt for a long time.
“My first thought before going into any football match is always: ‘How can I help my team? How am I going to assist? How am I going to score? How am I going to create chances?’ And that’s exactly what I wanted to do with that penalty, help the team.
“I was ready and confident to take it, these are the moment’s you dream of as a kid, it is why I play football. These are the pressured situations you want to be under as a footballer. I’ve scored penalties before at club level, I’ve practiced them countless times for both club and country so I picked my corner but it just wasn’t meant to be this time.
“We all had the same ambitions and objectives. We wanted to bring the trophy home.
“This has been one of the most enjoyable camps I’ve been part of in my career so far, the togetherness of the team has been unmatched, a real family on and off the pitch.”
— Jadon Sancho (@Sanchooo10) July 14, 2021
Sancho also addressed the racial abuse that he and his two team-mates faced after missing their spot kicks.
“I’m not going [to] pretend that I didn’t see the racial abuse that me and my brothers Marcus and Bukayo received after the game, but sadly it’s nothing new. As a society we need to do better, and hold these people accountable.
“Hate will never win. To all the young people who have received similar abuse, hold your heads up high and keep chasing the dream. I am proud of this England team and how we have united the whole nation in what has been a difficult 18 months for so many people.
“Much as we wanted to win the tournament, we will build and learn from this experience going forward. I want to say a massive thank you for all the positive messages and love and support that far outweighed the negative.
“It’s been an honour as always representing England and wearing the Three Lions shirt, and I have no doubt we’ll be back even stronger!”
Sancho the latest to explain defeat
Sancho is not the only player who has taken to social media to address the loss.
Manchester United star Rashford admitted on Twitter that he felt he had “let everyone down” by missing his penalty.
Rashford, 23, also hit back at the racist abuse he, Sancho and Saka have received in the wake of the loss.
The Football Association (FA) has also hit out at the vitriol that has been directed at the trio, calling on the government and social media companies to do more to fight such abuse.
“We will continue to do everything we can to stamp discrimination out of the game, but we implore government to act quickly and bring in the appropriate legislation so this abuse has real life consequences,” a statement read.
“Social media companies need to step up and take accountability and action to ban abusers from their platforms, gather evidence that can lead to prosecution and support making their platforms free from this type of abhorrent abuse.”
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