LONDON - Black players in the England soccer team have been subjected to a storm of online racist abuse after their defeat in the final of Euro 2020, drawing wide condemnation from the squad's manager Gareth Southgate along with royalty and politicians.

Marcus Rashford, 23, Jadon Sancho, 21, and Bukayo Saka, 19, were the targets of the abuse after they missed spot-kicks in a penalty shootout with Italy which settled Sunday's final after the game finished as a 1-1 draw.

Welcome back then Gold Cup. 

On Saturday night, the tournament began with Trinidad and Tobago taking a point off Mexico in front of over 41,000 in Arlington, Texas. On Sunday afternoon, the action continued with Martinique taking an early lead on Canada before John Herdman’s side replied with four unanswered.

All this to say: you never know what the hell is going on in Concacaf.

Surrounded by a reported 200,000 raucous fans in the Wembley area (and far more than the stated 60,000 inside the ground), Italy played spoiler in the Euro 2020 final at a level unseen since the Spartans pushed back the Persians at the Hot Gates.

"Inglaterra realmente juega un fútbol increíblemente asustado. Si eso es lo que hacen con el plantel que tienen, creo que es miserable". La frase la dijo el ex-futbolista neerlandés, Pierre van Hooijdonk, en la previa de la final de la Euro entre los Tres Leones e Italia y ahora vuelven a resonar, luego de que los ingleses comenzaran ganando la definición, pero terminarán con el corazón roto al caer en los penales ante la Azzurra.

Argentina está de regreso a casa, con el trofeo de la Copa América en el equipaje. Después de más de 40 días de concentración, lo primero que hicieron los jugadores de la Albiceleste fue reencontrarse con sus familias. La reunión más mediática, obviamente, se produjo en Rosario, donde Antonela Roccuzzo saltó para abrazar y besar al héroe de esta gesta, su esposo, Lionel Messi.

The consensus among many was that Gareth Southgate had been too cautious with his starting lineup against Italy on Sunday in the Euro 2020 final. The England manager made one change from the semifinal, bringing in Kieran Trippier and adopting a back-five while winger Bukayo Saka dropped to the bench.

Steve McManaman called it a mistake on ESPN during the pregame show. It took all of one minute and 57 seconds to see that McManaman had been mistaken.

RIO DE JANEIRO - Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni paid tribute to Lionel Messi on Saturday, praising his team captain and revealing he played in the Copa América win over Brazil with an injury.

"If you knew the way that he played in the Copa América you’d love him even more,” Scaloni told reporters after Argentina’s 1-0 win at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro. “You can never do without a player like him, even when he is not fully fit like in this game and the previous one.”

Hirving Lozano sufrió una espantosa lesión en el duelo inaugural de México en la Copa Oro. El Chucky debió ser retirado del campo en una camilla y enviado a un hospital cercano del AT&T Stadium de Texas, luego de chocar con la rodilla de Marvin Phillip, arquero de Trinidad y Tobago.

El cuento era que Lionel Messi nunca había ganado un trofeo con la selección adulta de Argentina. Pero ese suplicio hoy se acabó. El "10" lideró a la Albiceleste en el Maracaná para derrotar a Brasil y conseguir la primera Copa América de la nación desde 1993.