Purbrook-born England star Mason Mount says it is 'devastating' to see racist abuse at 'brave' teammates who should be 'praised'
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The Portsmouth-born attacker, who went to Purbrook Park School, said Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka deserve ‘praise and admiration’ after being ‘brave enough’ to step up in the ‘heartbreaking’ 3-2 penalties loss on Sunday night.
The Chelsea player said the support the team had received was ‘not lost on any of us’ with them ‘so grateful to have been able to bring people back together’.
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Hide AdBut the 22-year-old, posting on Twitter, went on to criticise the racist abuse delivered against those who missed their spot kicks.
‘It’s devastating to see the racist abuse directed at some of my teammates who were brave enough to step up when it mattered most,’ he said.
‘They deserve nothing but praise and admiration and we all stand together against the awful abuse they have received.
‘To the true England fans who show us support this is just the beginning. We will be back stronger.’
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Hide AdIn a moving tweet, Rashford apologised on Monday night for his missed penalty but said he will ‘never apologise’ for who he is following the torrent of abuse he received.
Deputy headteacher of Purbrook Park School, Emma Bolton, praised former pupil Mount following the defeat.
‘Pupils are disappointed, so are staff, however I feel what the England team and Mason in particular has given us is a sense of coming together as a community and a country that we have been waiting for that positive experience to come together for reasons other than Covid,’ she said.
‘The children have been really inspired and think they can be the next Mason Mount which is brilliant.’
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Hide AdHeadteacher Paul Foxley said: ‘Mason was very friendly and polite towards everyone, but he knew what he wanted and how to achieve it. That self-discipline is something that always stuck out with him.
‘We have posters of him throughout the school and everyone knows who he is.’
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