England’s wait goes on as Southgate faces questions

The 55-year wait goes on. In the end it seemed almost inevitable that the excitement and anticipation which has been brewing up across England over the last month would eventually come crashing down in the cruellest way possible - a penalty shootout defeat. After a 1-1 draw in normal time largely dominated by the Italians, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all missed penalties for England as Italy became European champions for the first time since 1968. The fallout will, as expected, be sizeable. In his column this morning, Ken Early writes that the English inquest will begin with questions mainly directed at Gareth Southgate for a cautious approach to the game which gifted Italy most of the possession but also for his selection of penalty takers. The England manager himself accepted the responsibility for the loss immediately after full-time last night, saying it had been entirely his choice to go with that lineup of penalty takers. Meanwhile, the FA have condemned some racist abuse directed at England players on social media in the wake of the defeat. In her TV View column Mary Hannigan wonders why the BBC didn't mention the scenes of unrest around Wembley before the match while Gavin Cummiskey canvasses coaches, presenters and journalists for their highs and lows from the tournament. And don't forget, you can find all of our Euro 2020 coverage on our dedicated site.

Moving on to GAA and there was drama in the Ulster senior football championship yesterday as Donegal narrowly overcame Derry in Ballybofey, thanks only to a late Patrick McBrearty point. There was little or nothing in the match for the entire contest and Keith Duggan writes this morning that the excitement of Ulster over the weekend has breathed fresh life into the championship. In Connacht it turned out to be a bit of a farce between Mayo and Leitrim as James Horan's side hammered their opponents in one of the most one-sided championship matches you're likely to see.

To Wimbledon and Novak Djokovic now holds 20 grand slam titles, the same amount as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. With his sixth victory at the All-England club on Sunday the Serbian claimed his third grand slam of the season and continued his relentless march towards becoming the greatest player ever. As for Federer, Brian O'Connor writes in his column this morning that his exit from SW19 last week may well be telling and the Swiss may never have a fairytale ending, but that's okay.

In rugby, Ireland's lengthy season came to a close on Saturday with a heavy victory over the USA and Andy Farrell says he is pleased with his squad's efforts over the campaign, particularly the fresh faces who have stepped up to the mark.