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Gareth Southgate has said he was responsible for England’s failed penalty kick in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday rather than the three players who missed the shootout.
Italy won 3-2 on penalties at the end of a grueling night at Wembley that ended 1-1 after extra time. Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka have all been unable to convert their penalties as England have waited 55 years for an international trophy.
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Southgate claimed he went through the same process that resulted in a shootout success against Colombia in the 2018 World Cup and in the UEFA Nations League a year later, and he took on the burden of England’s seventh outing on penalties, 25 years after missing as a player against Germany. in the semi-finals of Euro 96.
“What they need to know is that none of them are alone,” said the 50-year-old England boss. “We win and lose as a team, and the penalty shooters are my choice. We worked on them in training; it’s my decision. It’s not up to the players.
“Tonight is not gone for us, but we know they were the best takers we had left on the pitch. We tried to bring these players onto the pitch. We had to take some out already. a few during the game itself So yeah sure it’s going to be heartbreaking for the boys, but they’re not to blame for it; it’s my calling as a coach.
“It’s a process we’ve been through,” Southgate continued. “We followed what they did with their clubs over a long period of time and then what they showed in training as well. This is the process that has worked for us in Russia and in the League of Nations. Nations. Tonight it didn’t quite work out. “
Southgate revealed that Prince William walked into the locker room at the final whistle to congratulate the 26-man squad on their achievement this summer, reaching a first tournament final since 1966 and capturing the nation’s imagination, with more than half of the population who should have watched the final on television in addition to the 65,000 spectators.
“Right now the players are naturally very calm,” Southgate said. “The Duke [of Cambridge] just went down to see them in the locker room and rightly thanked them for what they did and didn’t hesitate to congratulate him.
“I said we can’t have any recrimination. They have to leave here with their heads held high. They’ve done more than any other team in the last 50 years. In terms of players, they should be incredibly proud of this. they did. These opportunities in your life are incredibly rare. “
“But credit to Italy, they have been exceptional throughout the tournament,” added the manager. “The way they used the ball tonight was a little better than us. I think they were strong enough in defense to prevent us from creating anything consistently on their goal.”
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