ROME: Italy´s team returned home to Rome in triumph on Monday after beating England in a tense penalty shootout to win Euro 2020 at Wembley, plunging the host nation into despair and prolonging their 55-year wait for a second major title. Giorgio Chiellini, the 36-year-old Italy captain, and coach Roberto Mancini lifted the gleaming trophy aloft after the team´s plane touched down just hours after the victory at Wembley on Sunday. Mancini´s men recovered from the shock of conceding the quickest goal ever in a European Championship final to equalise and held their nerve to claim a 3-2 shootout victory after a 1-1 draw following extra-time. England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved spot-kicks from Andrea Belotti and Jorginho but Marcus Rashford hit the post and Gianluigi Donnarumma kept out Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, sparking scenes of delirium from the players and the small pocket of Italian fans. The three England players who missed were subjected to a stream of racial abuse online from their own and other supporters. “This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote on Twitter on Monday. “Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.” It is the second time Italy have been crowned European champions and marks a remarkable turnaround under Mancini after the team failed to even qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
