JORDAN HENDERSON has claimed ‘this is just the beginning’ for England while hailing his ‘courageous’ team-mates for stepping up take penalties.
The brave Three Lions slipped to a painful Euro 2020 final defeat on the lottery of spot-kicks at the hands of Italy on Sunday night at Wembley.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missed their efforts – sparking a barrage of sick, racist abuse on social media.
But Liverpool captain Henderson was full of praise for his England team-mates and promised fans more is to come with the 2022 World Cup on the horizon.
In a string of tweets, Henderson – who was subbed off in extra-time after only coming on in the second half himself – wrote: “Hurts even more this morning, this team deserved more.
“Been incredible to be a part of this campaign and see the joy it’s brought fans around the country after a very tough 18 months or so.
“We gave absolutely everything and I am so proud of the lads for what they’ve done over the last few weeks.
“To see the growth of individuals and as a collective has been incredible, the character we’ve shown, the desire & sacrifice for each other has been something really special.
“It says a lot about the lads who took a pen last night, huge courage, but we win & lose as a team & we will learn from this experience.
“Thank you all for your incredible support, we didn’t manage to get over the line in the end but we’ll be back, this is just the beginning.”
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)
England’s official Twitter account responded by saying: “Well said, @JHenderson.
“It hurts, of course it will hurt. But let’s not forget the incredible memories we made together this summer
“This is a special group of players – and they will be back!”
Harry Maguire added: “Win together – lose together. We’ll be back.”
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson, the FA, the Duke of Cambridge and Metropolitan Police have all condemned the racial abuse aimed at a handful of England stars.
The Prime Minister said: “This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media.
“Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.”
The Met Police added: “We are aware of a number of offensive and racist social media comments being directed towards footballers following the Euro 2020 final.
“This abuse is totally unacceptable, it will not be tolerated and it will be investigated.”
An FA spokesperson said: “The FA strongly condemns all forms of discrimination and is appalled by the online racism that has been aimed at some of our England players on social media.
“We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behaviour is not welcome in following the team.
“We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible.
“We will continue to do everything we can to stamp discrimination out of the game, but we implore government to act quickly and bring in the appropriate legislation so this abuse has real life consequences.
“Social media companies need to step up and take accountability and action to ban abusers from their platforms, gather evidence that can lead to prosecution and support making their platforms free from this type of abhorrent abuse.”
England’s official Twitter account wrote: “We’re disgusted that some of our squad – who have given everything for the shirt this summer – have been subjected to discriminatory abuse online after tonight’s game.
“We stand with our players.”
The Duke of Cambridge, who serves as president of The FA and attended the game with wife Kate and son George, tweeted: “I am sickened by the racist abuse aimed at England players after last night’s match.
“It is totally unacceptable that players have to endure this abhorrent behaviour.
“It must stop now and all those involved should be held accountable. W.”
And ex-England star Daniel Sturridge also threw his support behind the three ‘kings’ following their heartbreaking misses.
⚽ Read our Football live blog for the very latest news from around the grounds
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
