England U21 'keeper Dean Henderson says 'we let the country down'
By Adam Goodwin
Last Updated: 31/10/19 1:51pm
Dean Henderson has said he and his England U21 team-mates "let the country down" with their early exit from Euro 2019.
Henderson was at fault for Romania's third goal in the 4-2 defeat in Cesena on Friday, as he let Florinel Coman's strike slip through his fingers, and the team now have no chance of qualifying from Group C.
He said: "Whoever goes on to win the tournament we know we can beat them as well. It is a shame.
"We have let ourselves down. We have let the country down."
The defeat was boss Aidy Boothroyd's second in as many games in the competition following Tuesday's 2-1 loss to France.
Boothroyd has said he will not quit, and Henderson has admitted the squad know why they were unable to meet expectations.
"We know exactly what went wrong. It is tough to take," said the 22-year-old.
"Adapting to little things like VAR, it is tough. But it is tough for everyone. No excuses. We have to dust ourselves down and we go again.
"It is a shame because we said in the team huddle that for some of us it will be the last opportunity to play in a major tournament for England.
1:06 "With the group of players we have really under-achieved. We wanted to come here and win this tournament."
Along with Henderson's mistake, Jonjoe Kenny gave away a penalty which allowed Romania to take the lead, before Fikayo Tomori gifted the ball to Ianis Hagi as he scored five minutes before time.
This is something the young squad need to cut out going forward, according to Manchester United's Henderson.
"Individual errors have cost us the game. The game was out of sight by then anyway. We need to put our chances away. We know that. We can't be conceding six goals in two games," he said.
"That's embarrassing really. That's from a goalkeeper's point of view, it is embarrassing. I am not used to it. I need to have a look at myself."
