‘Hold your heads high’: Prince William says England can be ‘so proud’ despite Euro 2020 final agony
Boris Johnson said the Gareth Southgate’s side ‘deserve great credit’ after heartbreaking loss
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Your support makes all the difference.Prince William has described England’s Euro 2020 defeat as “heartbreaking”, telling the team: “You can all hold your heads high, and be so proud of yourselves.”
The Duke of Cambridge added: “England, you’ve all come so far, but sadly this time it wasn’t our day.”
Fans were left devastated after the nation’s dreams of being crowned champions of Europe in front of a home crowd at Wembley were crushed in the final seconds on Sunday night.
Italy ended the Three Lions’ bid for glory with a 3-2 victory on penalties in the capital, in a game which saw some ticketless fans breach security to get into the stadium.
Boris Johnson responded to the defeat by tweeting: “That was a heartbreaking result to end Euro 2020, but Gareth Southgate and his England squad played like heroes. They have done the nation proud and deserve great credit.’’
Sir Keir Starmer said the result had been “heart-breaking,” adding: “On and off the pitch, this team is the very best of our country. They’ve done us proud.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan, also at Wembley for the final, tweeted: “To England: thank you. You have inspired and united our nation both on and off the pitch at every turn. We could not be any prouder of what you have achieved.”
“It will hurt like hell for the rest of their careers,” said BBC pundit Alan Shearer after the game. “But they have made us feel so proud over this last month. It’s football and it’s horrible when things like this happen, but you have to move on and find a way.”
Fellow England legend Rio Ferdinand added: “These young players will grow from it. You have to be really proud of the young players who put their hands up and took a penalty. Unfortunately today it just wasn’t to be.”
Among the celebrities commiserating was Stephen Fry, who wrote on Twitter: “Alright, football gods, I’ll wait another 55 years then. But I warn you, unless bio-tech comes up with something impressive, I’ll fairly certainly be dead. Bah, grr, poo and bother.”
Liam Gallagher sent a message of support to 19-year-old Bukayo Saka, who took the final penalty saved by Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The Oasis star tweeted: “Love saka. It’s all good Bruv – I love you kid we go and smash the World Cup. It is what it is.”
Italian president Sergio Mattarella praised his team’s boss Roberto Mancini, saying: “Great recognition to Roberto Mancini and our players – they have represented Italy well and given honour to sport.”
England’s early lead, putting them 1-0 up just two minutes, was not enough to clinch victory. A win would have been the men’s football team’s first major tournament win since the 1966 World Cup success.
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