Mesut Ozil has claimed Bukayo Saka should be shown ‘respect’ rather than be subjected to online racism and hate after the youngster’s penalty miss in England’s Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy.
Gianluigi Donnarumma saved Saka’s decisive spot-kick in a nail-biting shootout at Wembley to lead Italy to their second Euro victory.
Ozil himself missed a crucial penalty of his own as the Arsenal crashed out of the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich back in 2014 and he had complete sympathy for the young winger.
“I felt very much for Bukayo, I know from my own experience how it feels to miss a penalty,” Ozil, who now plays for Fenerbahce, told Sky Sports.
“In a final, as the last one, to take on the responsibility of an entire nation as a young player – respect. Not many players would dare to do that.
“There will always be people who racially abuse and scapegoat people of different backgrounds and skin colour when they lose.
“Unfortunately, there will always be a small part of our community that racially insults and threatens players.
“We should focus much more on the positive messages that keep players strong.”
Source -
TEAMtalk
Join us on
Telegram!/ Follow us on
Twitter!