AFP, London
Gareth Southgate urged England to use the pain of their Euro 2020 final defeat against Italy to fuel success in the future as the Three Lions boss accepted the blame for their heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat.
England failed to win their first major title since the 1966 World Cup as Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all missed penalties at Wembley on Sunday. Southgate's side had made a dream start thanks to Luke Shaw's second-minute goal, but Italy showed their class to hit back through Leonardo Bonucci's second-half equaliser. When it came to penalties, Southgate gambled by sending on late substitutes Rashford and Sancho specifically for their prowess from the spot.
The move backfired as England suffered the latest in a long line of bitter shoot-out defeats at major tournaments.
"That is my responsibility. I chose the guys to take the kicks. I told the players that nobody is on their own in that situation," Southgate said.
"It is my decision to give Saka that penalty. That is totally my responsibility. It is not him or Marcus or Jadon.
"Marcus and Jadon have been by far the best in the lead-in. It was a gamble (to bring them on), but if we gamble earlier we maybe lose the game in extra time." England had actually won their last two penalty shoot-outs against Colombia at the 2018 World Cup and against Switzerland in the 2019 Nations League. But even those successes weren't enough to keep Southgate's players from losing their nerve when the stakes were highest.
With over 60,000 fans roaring them on and millions more watching at home, sporting immortality beckoned for England if they had won the shoot-out.
