After England lost the final Gareth Southgate took full responsibility he said.
England’s heartache as they lose Euro2020 final. England played a great first half, with Shaw scoring the first goal after just one minute and fifty-seven seconds. They managed to keep Italy at bay until half time too. But Italy came out fighting in the second half, keeping possession of the ball and leaving the England team wondering how they were going to overcome them. In the sixty-sixth minute Bonucci slotted in a goal from a rebound of a Pickford save.
When the final whistle blew the game went into extra time however it was still 1-1 at the end. Then came the penalties. Jadon Sancho, 21, Marcus Rashford, 23, and Bukayo Saka, 19 all missed leaving Italy to win the penalty shootout 3-2 and lift the cup. Afterwards Southgate said “It’s down to me. I decided on the penalty takers based on what we’ve done in training.
Nobody is on their own. That’s my call and it totally rests on me. They were the best takers we had left on the pitch. We win and lose together.” Speaking after the match England captain Harry Kane said “We will look back and look at things we could have done better. That is what we have to learn from. We have a big 18 months ahead of us.
We have to get it out of our minds and focus on the World Cup. I think for sure it feels like a missed opportunity. It’s not every day you get into finals, especially for the national team. The opportunity was there for us, we didn’t quite take it and that’s going to hurt for a very long time – but that’s football and we have to get over it and move on.
We have to build belief from this, we have a great young squad. We have to dust ourselves down, hold our heads high and get ready for that tournament.” As heartbroken fans slumped in their seats the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their eldest son, George, seven, looked upset in the stands.
Prince William, president of the FA, tweeted afterwards “Heartbreaking. Congratulations Azzurri on a great victory. England, you’ve all come so far, but sadly this time it wasn’t our day. You can all hold your heads high, and be so proud of yourselves, I know there’s more to come.”