Rounding up the reaction of the national newspapers as England and Gareth Southgate suffer penalty shootout heartbreak, with Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missing from the spot
Monday 12 July 2021 13:15, UK
Penalties were England's downfall again as Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missed from the spot in a crushing Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy.
On an unforgettable occasion in front of almost 60,000 fans, Rashford rolled a tame shot against the post after a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes and Sancho and Saka saw player of the tournament Gianluigi Donnarumma save their efforts in a 3-2 shootout defeat.
Sky Sports takes a look at the morning newspapers after the night before...
With a front page of Gareth Southgate consoling Saka, The Telegraph's Sam Wallace questioned why the responsibility was left on the shoulders of the inexperienced 19-year-old Arsenal player. He writes: "This was Bukayo Saka's moment, and yet none of it - all the pain and longing riding in from the past - felt like his responsibility. He took the ball and settled down to try to resurrect the self-esteem of a football nation.
"Quite why it was him doing it at that moment was the greatest puzzle. England's penalty takers were disintegrating around him and suddenly it was a teenager with the team's fifth spot-kick, trying to keep the team in it and the dream alive. One young man standing in the way of the collective meltdown that was coming."
Using the same picture of Saka's despair on their front page, The Guardian's Barney Ronay writes "It was nearly complete, it was nearly so sweet. But it was, lest we forget, still sweet all the same.....There will be pain in defeat. But that sound at the end was a gentle hiss of applause. Down the years moments such as these have been met with a reflex splurge of blame, hurt, recrimination, tears, hurled plastic chairs.
"But this was something else. For the last four weeks, and beyond that back to the sun-drenched pantomime of Russia 2018, Southgate's fine, likeable young team has been a tonic, his clarity, decency and willingness to speak across football an uplifting thing at a time of dissonance and weak leadership elsewhere. At times Southgate has seemed like the last sensible person left. This England iteration may or not go on to further glories from here. But when something is good it's never gone, and this fine young group of footballers made a mark here that will not be lost. After a year and half of fear and isolation football has, for the last few weeks, provided a reminder that other things also exist, that there is also hope and warmth to be found, other stories to be written."
Under the headline 'Penalty curse denies England their dream', The Times' Matt Dickinson writes: "Agony or ecstasy? For a nation gripped by the biggest sporting drama in 55 years, it all came down, almost unbearably, to a penalty shoot-out and one last fateful kick of a ball.
"When an Italian goalkeeper dived to his left to secure the Euro 2020 trophy, England had lost their first tournament final since the 1966 World Cup, and the Gareth Southgate story, which had come so close to touching a beautiful glory, had the cruellest sort of Hollywood twist."
The Daily Mail lead with the headline: 'It all ends in tears" with Rob Draper writing: "Gareth Southgate seemed to have a sprung a tactical masterclass. And yet England's control of the game was wrested from them by the sheer persistence of Roberto Mancini, who kept making subs until he got it right again. And at that end, the age-old hoodoo of penalties got England again. Just how did England allow themselves to lose from a winning position? Back to the bad old days: penalty woe England were meant to have buried their penalty curse. But this was a really poor penalty shoot-out from England. What looked like a bold strategy of holding back key penalty takers until the last minute of extra time will undoubtedly be questioned, after Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford both missed their kicks.
"Bukayo Saka at just 19 being asked to take the decisive kick but Southgate will have gone solely on who was performing best in training. Raheem Sterling has a mixed penalty record but he also has the experience of big occasions. The order will be debated for years."
On a heartbreaking night, The Mirror and The Metro both reflect the Saka miss and the subsequent embrace with Southgate, while The Sun's Dave Kidd writes: "In the end it was a tale as old as time - England throwing it away, beaten by a better team.
"We've heard so much about Southgate, the urbane, decent, intelligent statesman - but this performance, this whole night, had little to do with any of those qualities.
"England relied on old-school qualities of grit and guts and graft and grind - but they were never quite enough."
The Italian sports pages were awash with tributes to their nation after winning Euro 2020. Tuttosport went with the headline 'There's only us!' after Italy's penalty success.
The publication also added 'Football came home' as the victors took the opportunity to make a jibe at England's belief that 55-years without a major international trophy was about to end.
Three Lions turned into puppies'
'Too good' (Troppo bello) was the headline on the front page of Gazzetta dello Sport. The paper hailed Italy's victory as fully deserved, writing that "the Three Lions were tamed, we turned them into puppies" and that success had been gained "as protagonists, not opportunists".
The presence of Hollywood star Tom Cruise at Wembley was also referenced by correspondent Marco Pasotto: "We were stronger than the wishes of Queen Elizabeth, the encouragement of Boris Johnson and the good luck over the phone by Tom Cruise, because this time the mission impossible was carried out by Italian actors."
'It's coming Rome'
Continuing on that theme - and repeating a phrase chanted by Italy's jubilant squad - La Repubblica led with 'It's coming Rome' on their website, while 'Europe is ours' was their front page headline.
The paper declared Italy had finally found heirs to their winning squad of 1968, while suggesting England's lengthy wait for a trophy may not end anytime soon.
"England, after having long dreamed of dispelling the taboo that has lasted for 55 years, is back in despair," wrote reporter Jacopo Manfredi. "It is difficult to imagine that such a tempting opportunity will come to them in a hurry."
'The curse of Wembley is lifted'
As in many other papers, Corriere della Sera lavished manager Mancini with praise for an unexpected achievement.
"The coach believed in it from day one, he said as soon as he arrived in the national team that the European Championship could be won. He succeeded," wrote Guido De Carolis, while referencing that Mancini and his colleague Gianluca Vialli had suffered European Cup final agony at Wembley as Sampdoria players in 1992. "The curse of Wembley is lifted."
Sky Sports' Kaveh Solhekol in Rome:
"The tone generally in the Italian pages has been celebratory but they have kicked England while they're down a bit.
"Tuttosport have had a bit of an anti-English agenda throughout the week. They've had it in for Raheem Sterling a bit as well. Inside is another article that congratulates the referee after they felt Sterling tried to win another penalty. They give top marks to the Dutch referee for not falling for Sterling's antics, as they put it.
"It is a beautiful morning in Rome and it's the kind of morning that makes you wish you were Italian. There was a massive party last night with everyone living 'la dolce vita.' Everyone was out on streets with flags and cars beeping all night. It didn't really stop until 5am this morning.
"The Italian team are staying in Rome at a hotel around 20 minutes drive away from me. Later this evening at around 6pm UK time they will be meeting the Italian president and at 7pm UK time they will be meeting the Italian Prime Minister."
