England beaten, Southgate: “My fault”

“My fault”. England coach Gareth Southgate took full responsibility for the penalty defeat against Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley. After the 1-1 draw after 120 minutes – Leonardo Bonucci replied to Luke Shaw’s advantage – England made a disaster on penalties, with the mistakes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka: all entered the field in the final minutes. “We prepared in the best possible way and this is my responsibility, I chose the guys to kick the penalty,” Southgate told ITV. “Nobody is alone in that situation. We decided to make the substitutions right at the end of the game and win and lose together as a team.” The decision to bet on Saka as fifth penalty taker is debated: “It was my decision to entrust him with that penalty, so the responsibility is totally mine: it’s not his fault, Marcus or Jadon”.