Marcus Rashford has taken to social media to insist that he would not apologize for where he came from in reaction to the racist attacks he suffered from English football fans.
The 23-year-old Manchester United forward, Bukayo Saka, and Jadon Sancho were victims of racists attacks after they failed to convert their spot-kicks in Euro 2020 final against Italy.
Their failure to covert their spot-kicks helped England to miss the opportunity of winning a major title in 55 years. The country has never won the European Championship and the just concluded Euro 2020 was the first time in the history of the tournament that the team got to the final.
Based on their performance from when the tournament started on June 11 until the final which was played at the Wembley Stadium on July 11, most football fans from England thought the country would win the tournament.
Unfortunately for the country, the game dragged into a penalty shootout and Italy got the better of the English team. Marcus Rashford played his spot-kick to the post while Sancho and Saka played theirs into the hands of the Italian goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Immediately after the final whistle, the three English players were subjected to intense racial attacks mostly on social media.
In reaction to his penalty miss, Marcus Rashford apologized for not playing the ball into the net but insisted that he would not apologize for who he is.
The football star wrote: “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 apologize for who I am and where I came from…
“I don’t even know where to start and I don’t even know how to put into words how I am feeling at this exact time.
“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’ve always backed myself for a penalty, but something didn’t feel quite right.
“During the long run-up I was saving myself a bit of time and unfortunately the result was not what I wanted. I felt as though I had let my teammates 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. 1 penalty. History. All I can say is sorry. I wish it had gone differently.”
— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) July 12, 2021
Throughout Euro 2020, Marcus Rashford played 5 games but failed to score nor provide any assist in the tournament. In the final against Italy, coach Gareth Southgate introduced him into the game towards the end of extra time.
Hence, the football star did not see much action on the pitch before he was given the responsibility to be among the five penalty takers for England. Unfortunately for him, he could not make a positive name for himself.
Though Rashford was born in the Wythenshawe area of Manchester in England, his ancestral root is traced to Saint Kitts and Nevis, an island country in the West Indies. It is the only federation in the Caribbean.
