Marcus Rashford has penned down an emotional message to the England fans after he missed a penalty in the Euro finals. The 23-year-old Manchester United forward was racially abused by a section of England fans who called him all sorts of things, including a monkey ape and many more.
The young striker has been a peripheral squad member, with his contribution being small cameos off the bench. It is not yet known this was down to his lingering niggles or the coach did not have faith in him. Pundits and various football experts have faulted Gareth Southgate’s timing of the substitutions because Rashford and Jadon Sancho had barely touched the ball and were asked to kick a penalty.
The boy from Manchester has taken to his official social media accounts and said refused to apologize for who he is. He said that he is a proud Black man and despite feeling that he let his country and teammates down, he will not apologize for being black.
Also Read: Black English Players Suffer Racist Abuse After Losing To Italy In The Euro Finals
Rashford thanked his family and community from south Manchester that has stood with him throughout his life and promised to come back stronger. The manager for England National team, Gareth Southgate, The UK Prime Minister, and the English FA are among the people that have come out strongly to defend the three black layers that missed their penalties.
It beats logic that every time the England team wins, these Black players are praised and their names sung all over, but when they lose, all the blame is on them. Racial segregation has been a thorny issue that is deeply rooted and it doesn’t seem to slow down.
The fabric of society is very much enjoined with racism and if it were to stop, then every person an individual responsibility to stamp it out not only from football but from all aspects of life.
Check out Rashford’s message to England fans;
“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. 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 shoutout 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″
