England were defeated in the Euro 2024 final against Spain, but there was no repeat of the penalty heartache they suffered three years ago against Italy, or the racist abuse that followed.
Former Three Lion’s player Nedum Onuoha has been talking to YouTuber Eman Balogun a.k.a SV2, for BBC Other Side of the Story, about that Euro 2020 final and the impact some fan's reactions online had on England’s black players.
He said, "I don't think it's right that those guys after that game, which was the biggest game of their careers to date, and probably their biggest disappointments, they shouldn't have to avoid being able to go on their phone." England lost the final of Euro 2020 to Italy on penalties with Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missing from the spot. The trio then faced a raft of racist abuse online and across social media.
Onuoha suffered racist abuse from opposition fans himself while playing for England’s U-21 but says getting it from your own fans is really disheartening.
He added, "Those are young people, that's their biggest game, that's playing for their national team, that's playing at Wembley, that's playing in a final – there aren't many English players who can say they did that… but I think, at times, when things go wrong, you try and point out the differences that people have."
"To go back to my time in 2009, we made it to the European Under-21 final, as we stepped out on the field it didn't end up working well for us, but it felt like everyone was behind us, and it's amazing what a difference that can make."
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