England youngster Jadon Sancho has broken his silence following the Three Lions' Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy on Sunday in penalties. The Dortmund phenom took to social media to offer an apology for missing such a crucial spot-kick and also promised that England will come back stronger in the World Cup next year.
“I’ve had a couple of days to reflect on Sunday's final and still feel a mix of emotions,” Jadon Sancho 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,” Jadon Sancho went on.
“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
Jadon Sancho made just three appearances in Euro 2020 and played a total of 97 minutes but he was brought on as a substitute in the 120′ of the final at Wembley and was selected by Gareth Southgate to take a penalty. He, Bukayo Saka, and Marcus Rashford all failed to beat Italian keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and faced online racial abuse as a result. Southgate also faced criticism for putting three of England's youngest players in such a pressure situation.
Nevertheless, it's clearly been a learning experience for Sancho but this moment will absolutely sting for a while.
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