/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69569557/1328228049.0.jpg)
Manchester City’s England quartet suffered Euro heartbreak as the Three Lions lost the final on penalties.
Kyle Walker, Raheem Sterling and John Stones all started Sunday’s match, but Phil Foden was ruled out with a foot injury as England once again succumbed to the curse of a penalty shoot-out.
It looked so good for the national side when United’s Luke Shaw gave England the lead with less than three minutes on the clock, but Italy slowly came back into the match and equalised midway through the second half and the match went to extra time.
Walker was substituted late on as England missed three successive penalties and lost 3-2 in the shoot-out.
Sterling, Walker and Stones all had an excellent tournament, with Sterling scoring three and was outstanding in the semi-final win over Denmark. The winger had a quiet match against the Italians, but looked lively when on the ball and wasn’t afraid to attack the Azzurri defence whenever he was given the opportunity.
Walker was incredible at right-back, but the contribution of Stones, who played every game, mustn’t be overlooked. Since returning to the international scene, the City centre-back has been immense, yet won’t get the credit he his due for some exceptional performance.
Foden started the first two games, and came on against Denmark, but didn’t feature too much overall. However, the Stockport Iniesta has a great future ahead of him and will no doubt feature at the World Cup next year.
While it was a disappointing end to a wonderful campaign, we can be extremely proud of the national side and all the blues that took part in the tournament.
We look forward to seeing them again next month when the new Premier League season kicks off.