'Racial abuse of England players disgusting and unacceptable' - Euro 2020 final reaction after Italy triumph
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ByEurosport
Updated 12/07/2021 at 15:30 GMT
In the latest Eurosport vodcast in partnership with The Beautiful Game Podcast, the team react to the Euro 2020 final between England and eventual champions of the tournament Italy after all the drama at Wembley Stadium. From Italy's stunning triumph to England's disappointment on the biggest stage and, unfortunately, some lamentable behaviour from the home 'fans'.
'Racial abuse at England players after final disgusting and disgraceful'
Some of the appalling racial abuse hurled at England players in the wake of the Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy on penalties has been "disgusting and unacceptable".
Dotun Abijoh and Justin Cole were joined by Eurosport's Pete Sharland for the latest Eurosport vodcast in partnership with The Beautiful Game Podcast.
The team gave their reactions to the big final between Gareth Southgate's trailblazing England side and eventual champions of the tournament Italy after all the drama at Wembley Stadium.
For all the positives to take from England's showing at the tournament and Italy's triumph, there was some lamentable behaviour - particularly with racial abuse aimed at the three players who missed penalties for the hosts, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka.
"Obviously there has been a lot of abuse hurled at the black players for missing penalties," Abijoh said. "For me, that is just unacceptable. Come on, man, this needs to stop!
How many times are we going to repeat the same thing? Black player misses a penalty... racial abuse. It's disgusting.
"The behaviour of some of the fans is unacceptable. I went to quite a few of the fan parks and I honestly asked the security why none of the fan parks were showing the game and they said it was because the England fans don't know how to behave.
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'Italy were patient and just took control - England must learn from that'
"We just have to be honest, it's a nightmare. It's going to be too dangerous. It's going to be a disaster. We're one of the only countries where we can't have fan gatherings and big screens showing the England games, because we know violence is going to break out, and that's not good enough."
Sharland agreed: "It's disgusting. I don't understand: two weeks ago, you were lauding Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka as your heroes, the ones who were going to 'bring it home' for you, and now they miss a penalty and you think it's okay to go online and racially abuse these people.
"I just thought that it was embarrassing. I thought it was disgraceful. You look at how fans handled themselves before the game, during the game and after the game - I thought it was pathetic.
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'Chiesa will go on to be one of the best players in the world'
"To see some of the things coming out about England fans attacking Italian fans; the racist abuse hurled at, not just black players, but black fans as well; and then to see some of the statistics published from helplines about how domestic abuse goes up when England are playing, win or lose.
"We've got bigger issues than hosting a World Cup. This country is seriously broken. Yes, Gareth Southgate and his team did an amazing job bringing everyone together - what they stand for and represent is nothing short of extraordinary - but what last night shows there is still a lot of work this country as to do to get to where it should be in terms of equality and social justice, because at the moment it's just pathetic."
The team also gave their views on a number of other topics from the final, and indeed the tournament, including praise for the outstanding Italy team who ended up champions, England's prospects looking ahead to Qatar and debate as to whether Southgate should have approached things a bit differently in the final.
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'It had everything, it's been amazing' - Verdict on Euro 2020
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