England captain Harry Kane has thanked fans for their support after the team lost to Italy on penalties in the final of the Euro 2020 tournament.

The game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, dramatically plunging the match in to extra time and eventually penalties, where Italy triumphed 3-2 from the spot.

Sharing a photo of the team in a huddle on the Wembley turf on Sunday night, Kane wrote on Twitter: “Last night hurts. It’ll hurt for a long time.

Last night hurts. It’ll hurt for a long time. But we’ve come so far and broken down so many barriers that this is not the end. We win together, lose together and will regroup together for the World Cup. Thanks for all your support this summer. pic.twitter.com/kUfW3zq2mn

“But we’ve come so far and broken down so many barriers that this is not the end. We win together, lose together and will regroup together for the World Cup. Thanks for all your support this summer.”

Harry Maguire shared a picture of the squad watching the penalty shoot-out, simply saying: “Win together – lose together. We’ll be back.”

Elsewhere, Kieran Trippier shared a photo of the squad smiling before the final with the message: “I’m so proud of this team. Such a young talented group of players.

Live reaction as England lose on penalties and online racism condemned

“We gave everything we had for you fans and I’m sorry it wasn’t enough. The support we’ve received is something we will never forget. We will be back stronger. Thank you”.

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson also shared his thoughts, saying the loss hurt “even more this morning”.

He added: “We gave absolutely everything and I am so proud of the lads for what they’ve done over the last few weeks. To see the growth of individuals and as a collective has been incredible, the character we’ve shown, the desire & sacrifice for each other has been something really special.”

It says a lot about the lads who took a pen last night, huge courage, but we win & lose as a team & we will learn from this experience. Thank you all for your incredible support, we didn’t manage to get over the line in the end but we’ll be back, this is just the beginning.🦁🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿❤️

Henderson also thanked fans for their support, saying “this is just the beginning.”

Meanwhile, the talismanic Jack Grealish, who came on in the dying minutes of extra time before being overlooked as a penalty-taker hit back at critics, saying: “I wanted to take one!!!!”

Referring to Gareth Southgate’s decision not to let him try from the penalty spot, he added: “The gaffer has made so many right decisions through this tournament and he did tonight! But I won’t have people say that I didn’t want to take a peno when I said I will…”

I said I wanted to take one!!!!
The gaffer has made so many right decisions through this tournament and he did tonight! But I won’t have people say that I didn’t want to take a peno when I said I will… https://t.co/3mBpKyMoUV

The team’s comments come after manager Gareth Southgate told the media he did not want to “outstay his welcome” as England boss, but added he wants to take the team to glory at next year’s World Cup in Qatar.

Southgate also said that supporting his players was “top of his thinking” after the final.

“There was a long period in the dressing room last night, they then went to meet with their families across the road,” he said.

“I managed to see them all individually for a few moments before they left the dressing room. I just wanted to thank them all for what they’ve given because they’ve been a joy to work with, they really have bought into everything we’ve tried to do.

“They’ve all given everything they possibly could – I’m tremendously grateful for that and I know the country is.

Southgate also condemned the racism displayed by some people towards the team’s black players, calling it “unforgiveable”.

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