Marcus Rashford may have been subjected to discrimantory posts on social media after he missed a penalty in the shootout to decide the Euro 2020 winners against Italy but there has been no shortage of support for the young England footballer either. Former cricketers AB de Villiers and Michael Vaughan were one of the firsts to react on Rashford’s heartfelt Twitter post.
De Villiers wrote 'respect' replying to Rashford while Vaughan retweeted the post with heart emojis.
The South African legend de Villiers and former England captain Vaughan were joined in by current England batsman Sam Billings, who too took to Twitter to react to Rashford’s lengthy post.
{{/usCountry}}The South African legend de Villiers and former England captain Vaughan were joined in by current England batsman Sam Billings, who too took to Twitter to react to Rashford’s lengthy post.
{{/usCountry}}The England cricketing fraternity has been quite vocal in backing their footballers after their defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final. Vaughan wrote multiple posts on Twitter handle condemning the abuse against a group of England players.
Rashford, 23, Jadon Sancho, 21, and Bukayo Saka, 19, were the targets of the abuse after they missed spot-kicks in a penalty shootout with Italy which settled Sunday's final after the game finished as a 1-1 draw.
The comments prompted a police investigation and wide condemnation.
Rashford took to Twitter to express his feelings about Sunday’s final against Italy.
"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 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," he added.
The 23-year-old footballer said he will never apologise for his roots and wished the final game had gone differently on Sunday.
"I wish it had of gone differently. Whilst I continue to say sorry I want to shout out 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," said Rashford.
"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'm Marcus Rashford, 23-year-old black man from Withington and Wythenshawe, South Manchester. If I have nothing else I have that," said Rashford.