Marcus Rashford responds to racist abuse and opens up on penalty miss

The Manchester United forward has thanked his team-mates for the support they showed after he missed from the spot-kick.

Marcus Rashford has revealed that he has “felt no prouder moment” than representing England at EURO 2020 and that he “will never apologise for who I am and where I came from” after he was racially abused following the final defeat to Italy.

The Three-Lions were defeated by Italy on penalties at the EURO 2020 final with Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missing from the spot.

After the defeat, the trio were subjected to racial abuses on social media after their efforts from the spot fell short.

Rashford, however has reflected on missing from the spot, saying that “something didn’t feel right” when he stepped up to take the penalty. According to him, he’s had a difficult season and maybe his confidence dropped.

“I don’t even know where to start and I don’t even know how to put into words how I’m feeling at this exact time,” Rashford wrote on his social media accounts.

“I’ve had a difficult season, I think that’s been clear for everyone to see and I probably went into that final with a lack of confidence.

“I felt as though I had let my team-mates down. I felt as if I’d let everyone down. A penalty was all I’d been asked to contribute for the team. I can score penalties in my sleep, so why not that one? It’s been playing in my head over and over since I struck the ball and there’s probably not a word to quite describe how it feels.

“Final. 55 years. One penalty. History. All I can say is sorry. I wish it had [have] gone differently. Whilst I continue to say sorry, I want to shout out [to] my team-mates. This summer has been one of the best camps I’ve experienced and you’ve all played a role in that. A brotherhood has been built that is unbreakable. Your success is my success. Your failures are mine.

“I’ve grown into a sport where I expect to read things written about myself. Whether it be the colour of my skin, where I grew up or, most recently, how I decide to spend my time off the pitch I can take critique of my performance all day long, my penalty was not good enough, it should have gone in but I will never apologise for who I am and where I came from.

“I’ve felt no prouder moment than wearing those Three Lions on my chest and seeing my family cheer me on in a crowd of tens of thousands. I dreamt of days like this. The messages I’ve received today have been positively overwhelming and seeing the response on Withington had me on the verge of tears.

“The communities that always wrapped their arms around me continue to hold me up. I’m Marcus Rashford, [a] 23-year-old black man from Withington and Wythenshawe, South
Manchester. If I have nothing else, I have that.

“For all the kind messages, thank you. I’ll be back stronger. We’ll be back stronger.” He concluded in a statement.

Words of support continues to pour for Rashford, Sancho and Saka as the fight to stop racism in English football continues.