Marcus Rashford has broken his silence following Sunday's dramatic Euro 2020 final against Italy.
It was a night England waited 55 years for, and it's safe to say that despite Italy managing to emerge victoriously, the majority nation was left filled with pride.
Despite Wembley Stadium coming unglued when Luke Shaw put England 1-0 up after just two minutes, Italy was eventually able to equalize in the second half, and the game eventually came down to penalty shoot-outs.
Italy would claim the victory, with a final score of 3-2 on penalties.
Take a look at this video of the penalty shoot-out below:Despite an amazing performance, 23-year-old Marcus Rashford, 21-year-old Jadon Sancho, and 19-year-old Bukayo Saka were unsuccessful for England in the shootout - with Saka carrying the weight of a nation on his young shoulders as he took the final kick of the tournament.
And regardless of their incredible efforts and contributions both on and off of the pitch, sadly, these three players have been met with a torrent of racist abuse from online trolls.
Now Rashford himself has taken to social media to give his account of that fateful night, and of course, shut down racist trolls while at it.
The Manchester United player, who received racial abuse on social media after the match along with his teammates, also posted letters of support he has received from fans after England’s heartbreaking defeat.
In a moving post on Twitter, Rashford wrote: "I don’t even know where to start and I don’t even know how to put into words how I am feeling at this exact time. I've had a difficult season, I think that’s been clear for everyone to see and I probably went into that final with a lack of confidence.
"I’ve always backed myself for a penalty, but something didn’t feel quite right. During the long run-up I was saving myself a bit of time and unfortunately the result was not what I wanted.
"I felt as though I had let my team-mates down. I felt as if I’d let everyone down. A penalty was all I’d been asked to contribute for the team. I can score penalties in my sleep, so why not that one? It’s been playing in my head over and over since I struck the ball and there’s probably not a word to quite describe how it feels. Final. 55 years. 1 penalty. History. All I can say is sorry. I wish it had of gone differently."
Rashford praised the England squad for building an “unbreakable” bond during the tournament, adding: "Whilst I continue to say sorry I want to shout out my team-mates. This summer has been one of the best camps I’ve experienced and you’ve all played a role in that. A brotherhood has been built that is unbreakable. Your success is my success. Your failures are mine."
The 23-year-old, whose mural in the Manchester suburb of Withington was defaced after his penalty miss before being covered in messages of support, promised he would come back stronger.
"I've grown into a sport where I expected to read things written about myself," he went on. "Whether it be the color of my skin, where I grew up, or, most recently, how I decide to spend my time off the pitch," Rashford said, in reference to his campaign against homelessness and child hunger in the UK.
Rashford continued: "I can take critique of my performance all day long, my penalty was not good enough, it should have gone in but I will never apologize for who I am and where I came from. I’ve felt no prouder moment than wearing those three lions on my chest and seeing my family cheer me on in a crowd of 10s of thousands.
"I dreamt of days like this. The messages I’ve received today have been positively overwhelming and seeing the response in Withington had me on the verge of tears. The communities that always wrapped their arms around me continue to hold me up."
"I’m Marcus Rashford, 23-year-old black man from Withington and Wythenshawe, South Manchester. If I have nothing else I have that. For all the kind messages thank you. I’ll be back stronger. We’ll be back stronger," he added.