Jose Mourinho has claimed an England player missed out on Euro 2020 after refusing to take a penalty at the 2018 World Cup.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all missed from the spot on Sunday evening as England slipped to defeat against Italy.
Mourinho appeared on talkSPORT following the game and was disappointed in 19-year-old Saka shouldering the responsibility of final penalty taker.
He then went on to reveal a player who ‘could be in this team’ ended up not being thanks not taking a penalty in Russia.
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Per The Sun he said: “On the decisions of the penalty takers, I think it’s hard to leave Saka as the last one.
“I think it’s too much for a kid to have everything on his shoulders in this moment, but I don’t know, I have to ask that question to Gareth because many times what happens is that players who should be there are not there, players who should be there, they run away from the responsibility.
“And because I feel Gareth is such an honest guy and is so protective of his players, I don’t believe Gareth would ever say if ‘Player A’ or ‘Player B’ ran away or hid or said they were not ready to take one.
“Because, don’t ask me who because I will not tell you, but I was told 100 per cent that one player that could be in this team and was not in this team, one of the reasons was in the World Cup semi-final he should have taken a penalty and he refused.
“So sometimes these situations happen and honest people like Gareth don’t expose the player.
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“I don’t know in this case, I really don’t know, but I think it doesn’t matter if you’re a great penalty taker or not.”
Rashford and Sancho came off the bench with minutes to spare before taking their spot-kicks, while Saka’s experience taking them at Arsenal is incredibly limited.
Roy Keane slammed Jack Grealish and Raheem Sterling post-match with Aston Villa captain Grealish firing back on social media.
Southgate took full responsibility for deciding the penalty kick takers and refused to blame his players.
He told the BBC: “That it is down to me.
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“I decided on the penalty takers based on what we had done in training and nobody is on their own.
“We have won together as a team and it is absolutely on all of us in terms of not being able to win the game tonight.
“In terms of the penalties, that is my call and totally rests with me.”
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