England’s Bukayo Saka Racially Abused After England Loses Euro 2020 Final
Written by SOURCE on July 12, 2021
19-year-old England winger Bukayo Saka faced racist remarks on social media after he missed his penalty kick, sealing the victory for Italy in the Euro 2020 Final on Sunday.
Many condemned the online vitriol from England fans, which spoiled an otherwise cracking day of soccer. The FA released a statement saying it was appalled by the racist abuse aimed at England’s minority players.
“We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behavior is not welcome in following the team,” it said in a statement.
“We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible.
It also called on social media companies 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.”
The loss came after a hotly contested match that began with Luke Shaw scoring the fastest goal in Euro history to put England ahead early.
England failed to add onto their lead, allowing a game-tying goal to Italy’s Leonardo Bonucci in the 67th minute. The score remained tied at 1 after two 15-minute extra time periods, paving the way for a deciding penalty shootout. Moments before extra time concluded, England manager Gareth Southgate substituted Jordan Henderson and Kyle Walker for 23-year-old Marcus Rashford and 21-year-old Jadon Sancho, respectively, to take penalty kicks.
The final three penalty takers—Rashford, Sancho, and Saka—missed their attempts. Some questioned why Southgate chose to put a 19-year-old in such a difficult spot.
Others wondered why Saka’s more experienced teammates failed to rise to the occasion. “If you’re (Raheem) Sterling or (Jack) Grealish, you cannot sit there and have a young kid [Saka] go up for a penalty ahead of you, you can’t,” Roy Keane told ITV. “You cannot let a shy 19-year-old go up in front of you. They have a lot more experience, Sterling has won trophies, they had to get in front of the young kid and stand up.”
Many were so immensely proud of what Saka, Rashford, and Sancho were able to accomplish throughout the tournament at such a young age.
The win gives Italy its first Euro title since 1968, and second overall.
