Racist abuse of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka adds 'another layer' to shootouts, says Gareth Southgate

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Updated 07/06/2022 at 10:25 GMT

Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were all subjected to racist abuse after missing penalties against Italy in the Euro 2020 final. England manager Gareth Southgate says that reaction adds "another layer" that could make it "extremely difficult for us to win anything". England are set to face Germany in the Nations League on Tuesday evening.

Gareth Southgate says racist abuse aimed at Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after their penalty misses in the Euro 2020 final adds "another layer of complexity" to future shootouts.

Rashford, Sancho and Saka were all subjected to racist online abuse after missing from the spot against Italy.

England midfielder Jude Bellingham said recently he was disturbed by the way his team-mates were treated as “not English, just black” after they missed.

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Southgate was asked whether fear of being abused may now run through a player’s mind ahead of taking penalties in the future.

“I have to say it never crossed my mind before,” said the England manager.

“It will [now]. We’ve got 55 years of talking about penalties and everything else. So now we’ve got another layer that’s going to make it extremely difficult for us to win anything.

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“We went through a process of preparing for penalties. We’ve definitely reviewed that. Some of the boys have taken more with their clubs. Bukayo has taken a couple for his club, which were massively important moments that epitomised what he’s about.

“But indirectly we have created another layer of difficulty in overcoming a penalty shootout. I have got to take all these things into consideration and it is incredibly complex.”

Southgate also revealed that after the final he questioned his selection for the shootout.

“When I left The Grove [hotel] that day I couldn’t help but feel, ‘Have I created this situation here for the boys?’” said the England manager.

“But it wouldn’t be right to not pick the players you think are best to take them because of what the possible consequences of them missing would be. I’ve got to pick them on the belief they are going to score.”

Of the five players chosen in the shootout against Italy, only Harry Kane and Rashford were regular penalty takers at club level.

But Southgate says they are taking steps to try and improve the likelihood of non-regular takers scoring a penalty in a big moment.

“Some of the boys have taken more with their clubs,” Southgate said.

“Reece James has, I think, had four in shootouts this year. Trent [Alexander-Arnold] has had two.

“We have got to do that work. Maybe they are getting some practice with clubs, which definitely Chelsea and Liverpool did this year.

“But we’ve got to cover that work in our camps on the days we can and make it really focused and specific. We’re doing what we can. Psychology is definitely a part of it and I have to be aware of all of those things.”

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England face Germany in the Nations League on Tuesday after losing their opening match against Hungary on Saturday.

Southgate has praised Germany, who are unbeaten in 10 matches, as "the benchmark" for international football.

“For me, Germany and Brazil are still the benchmark in terms of countries that have regularly and consistently won tournaments," he said.

“Even when everyone talks about the 5-1 [England's heavy World Cup qualifying win over Germany in 2001], they [Germany] ended up in the World Cup final on the back of that campaign. So you have to respect what they’ve been as a country and what they are as a country in footballing terms.

“That mentality is what we’re trying to create - we’ve got to keep trying to get to latter stages of competitions. Games like tomorrow are brilliant for us, that’s exactly the kind of test we need.”

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