England’s Penalty Takers Foil Racism — On and Off the Field at Euro 2024

Amid all the good cheer and celebratory wishes bestowed upon England after its penalty shootout victory over Switzerland, few were more pleasing than what Jadon Sancho had to say about Bukayo Saka.

“I’m so proud of this guy!,” Sancho wrote about Saka on his Instagram account. “You did it for me and Marcus brother!”

I’m not claiming to be able to read Sancho’s mind, but it’s a fair assumption there was more behind his message than that he, Saka and Marcus Rashford all had their efforts saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma in the Euro 2020 final, as Italy triumphed at Wembley Stadium.

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Parts of British social media became an ugly, twisted place, filled with vile messages of abuse and senselessness direct towards those three players.

None of the posts deserve a repeat airing, but the worst of them drew ludicrous parallels with how England’s two scorers, Harry Kane and Harry Maguire, are white — and Rashford, Sancho and Saka are black.

On Saturday, Saka scored the equalizer in England’s quarterfinal and was on target again in the shootout. Rashford and Sancho were not picked for Euro 2024 after struggling for form at club level.

“Where are the racists now????” wrote former England defender Rio Ferdinand {snip}

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