Euro 2020 news live: England reaction after Italy win final on penalties

Gareth Southgate has shouldered the blame for the penalty shootout loss to Italy and told his young side to hold their heads high. Here’s what the England coach had to say last night:

“In terms of the players, they’ve given everything they could have – not only tonight but through the whole tournament. They should hold their heads high.

“They’re a team who have pulled together, given the country some incredible evenings, but of course tonight the devastation of getting so close and not being able to give our country the trophy we wanted to is difficult to put into context.

“Nobody is left out on their own and the calls for the penalties were mine.

“My decision. My decision to ask the players to take the penalties that they did.”

More from the manager here:

Boris Johnson has urged fans not to racially abuse the England football team after a barrage of hatred was unleashed against its black players.

The prime minister said people responsible for the “appalling” abuse, which is being investigated by the police, “should be ashamed of themselves”.

England lost out on their first major trophy in over half a century on Sunday night after Italy defeated them on penalties.

Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, and Jadon Sancho, who failed to score their penalties, have been subjected to the worst of the abuse – posted on platforms like Twitter and Instagram.

Firstly, a recap of last night’s game – if you can bear to relive it. Here’s an excerpt of what our Chief Football Writer, Miguel Delaney, had to say about the final:

“Another oh so near, and the most painful yet. England’s wait will go on to at least 56 years as Italy seize the moment, and the game, to lift their second European Championship.

“That it was penalties, and the element that Gareth Southgate was supposed to address more than any other, only added to the anguish. That it was Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka who missed only added to the unfairness of it in terms of emotion – not that Italy will see it like that. They more than deserved their win.

“The really big question that will persist on until a trophy is finally won – and England will surely never get a better chance than this – is why Southgate’s side so squandered the initiative; why a 1-0 lead was allowed to become 1-1 and then even worse.”

Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of today’s fallout from the Euro 2020 final.

Football didn’t come home in the way fans had hoped it would, despite the thrilling ride that Gareth Southgate and his players took supporters on over the last few weeks.

The Three Lions, for all of their progress and all the smashed barriers, suffered familiar heartache last night, losing on penalties to a superior Italy side.

The final was marred by fan violence at Wembley Stadium before kick-off and by the racial abuse of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka at full-time following their missed penalties in the decisive shootout.

We’ll bring you all the reaction to last night’s loss, as well as the fallout from the key stories as England were beaten by Italy.