But as the row continues to try and tear England apart, Rashford rose above it in an emotional Instagram message on Tuesday morning (AEST).“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,” the 23-year-old posted.“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 of gone differently.“Whilst I continue to say sorry I want to shout out my teammates. 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 10s of thousands. I dreamt of days like this.“The messages I’ve received today have been positively overwhelming and seeing the response in 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, 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. MR10.”As Twitter moved to remove abusive accounts and Facebook vowed anew to look into abuse on its Instagram platform, Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself came under stinging criticism for earlier refusing to condemn fans who had booed English players’ campaign against racism.England manager Gareth Southgate said the online invective was “unforgivable”. “Some of it has come from abroad, we have been told this, but some of it is from this country,” he told reporters.“We have been a beacon of light to bring people together and the national team stands for everybody.” England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were victims of a stream of abuse on Instagram and Twitter — many apparently from foreign trolls and bots.Some left posts with monkey emojis, prmopting widespread outrage.While some people identifying as England fans used racial slurs in blaming the trio for the defeat, other offensive messages were accompanied with “forza italia” hashtags.Johnson said the team had “made history” and “brought joy to this country”. “To those who have been directing racist abuse at some of the players, I say shame on you and I hope you will crawl back under the rock from which you emerged,” he told a news conference.England’s players have made a strong stand against racism at the tournament, taking a knee before their games including the final.But Johnson and others in the Conservatives’ “anti-woke” government had initially dismissed that as “gesture politics” and defended the freedom of speech of England fans who booed the players, before backing the team later in the tournament.Asked if he would now take the knee himself, Johnson said: “People should feel free to show their respect and show how much they condemn racism in this country in any way that they choose.” Former Manchester United player Gary Neville accused the prime minister of having “promoted” racism, noting one notorious past comment by Johnson likening Muslim women who wear the veil to “letter-boxes”.Former Conservative party chairwoman Sayeeda Warsi urged the government: “It’s time to stop the culture wars that are feeding division.“Dog whistles win votes but destroy nations.”CHANNEL 7 ATTACKED FOR RACIST POSTThe global row comes as Channel 7 in Australia was attacked on social media after a Facebook post pointed to the ethnicity of three England soccer players in their failed penalty shootout against Italy.Fans erupted online after they saw the post which was captioned with: “Three Black players failed in the penalty shootout which England lost 3-2 against Italy.”The post was amended to say: “Three players failed in the penalty shootout which England lost 3-2 against Italy”.Channel 7 also issued an apology for any offense caused. PRINCE WILLIAM ATTACKED AFTER BEING ‘SICKENED’Prince William has sparked intense backlash online after he condemned the “sickening” racist attacks against England’s black players following the Euro 2020 final but failed to publicly defend Meghan Markle when she was the target.The Duke of Cambridge took to Twitter on Monday morning to address the discriminatory abuse – which included monkey and banana emojis – unleashed by soccer fans on social media after the country’s loss to Italy.The racist remarks were largely targeted at Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka.Each player missed a penalty kick during the crucial shootout that decided the game – and tournament – for Italy.“I am sickened by the racist abuse aimed at England players after last night’s match,” William wrote on Twitter.“It is totally unacceptable that players have to endure this abhorrent behaviour. “It must stop now and all those involved should be held accountable.”His comments were met with swift backlash as many users drew comparisons between William’s statement and the Royal Family’s response to allegations made by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of racism within Buckingham Palace.His critics – who sent the prince’s name trending on Twitter – accused William of being a hypocrite for supporting the sports stars while never publicly coming to the defence of his sister-in-law, Meghan, who is bi-racial and faced racism in the UK while working as a member of the British royal family.“For years #sussexsquad has been told that we are ‘race baiters’ for highlighting the racism against Meghan Markle. Tonight, seeing the abuse hurled at Saka, Rashford, & Sancho literally proves what we’ve been saying for years,” one person wrote.Another commented: “See the hypocrisy, where were you when your brother’s wife was being harassed, vilified? Where was this energy, William?”“Were you sickened by the racist abuse aimed at your sister-in-law, Meghan Markle for years? What your own blood nephew Archie?” asked another user. “Prince William performative ally ship. His words would have legitimate credibility right now if he had condemned racist abuse towards Meghan Markle and Archie. His silence and complicity fuelled what he condemn today,” someone else added. Another wrote: “If you can’t respond to racism when it happens to your sister in law you can’t respond on behalf of the nation and expect to be credible.“Charity always begins at home, Sir!”In November 2016, Harry’s communications secretary Jason Knauf released a statement saying: “Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public — the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments.”During her tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March this year, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and Harry spoke about the racist attacks she faced from the UK press and within the royal family.The couple also claimed there were “conversations and concerns” regarding the skin colour of their then-unborn child, Archie, from within the palace.In a statement released after the interview aired, Buckingham Palace said the family was “saddened” to learn of the couple’s struggles and noted that the allegations surrounding race were “concerning,” but added that “some recollections may vary.”William later followed up with a personal response. He assured reporters at an event that the royal family is “very much not a racist family.”In England’s first major tournament final since 1966, Luke Shaw scored two minutes in for England, before Leonardo Bonucci got the equaliser for Italy in the second half.The game remained 1-1 after extra time, and Italy won the penalty shootout 3-2.London’s Metropolitan Police said it will be investigating the “offensive and racist” posts which flooded social media after the game.“We are aware of a number of offensive and racist social media comments being directed towards footballers following the Euro 2020 final,” the department said on Twitter. “This abuse is totally unacceptable, it will not be tolerated and it will be investigated.”In a statement, England’s Football Association 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’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.”
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