John Stones has broken his silence about England losing to Spain in the final of the European Championship on Sunday night.
Phil Thompson lauded the Manchester City centre-back’s performances at Euro 2024.
Stones would have been hoping that he would not be on the receiving end of a second successive defeat in a European Championship final ahead of the contest.
However, the £250,000-a-week man looked bitterly disappointed at the game as he had to take home a runners-up medal once again in an England shirt.
Especially considering City’s number five had his best game at the tournament, he would have especially been gutted.
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John Stones breaks his silence after England lose Euro 2024 final to Spain
At 30 years of age, Stones perhaps does not have too many international tournaments left in his career.
The likes of Kobbie Mainoo (19), Jude Bellingham (21), Bukayo Saka (22) and Phil Foden (24), on the other hand will still get plenty of chances to attain international success.
At Manchester City, the former Everton defender tasted the feeling of success in his second appearance in a Champions League final against Inter Milan after being on the losing side against Chelsea in 2021.
However, the Three Lions are yet to break their hoodoo at the biggest stages.
Stones took to Instagram to make his feelings clear about how he felt about England suffering a defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
The post read: “Broken. We all wanted it so badly. It cuts deep and it’s tough mentally right now.”
“I do want to say a huge thank you to everybody for supporting us at home and those who travelled over. Hopefully, you created some special memories along the way!”
“Thank you to the manager, coaches, the backroom staff and every single player for the memories that will last forever regardless.”
“This squad is the most unique that I’ve been involved in. The fight continues and we will keep on believing we can achieve our dreams.”
John Stones would especially have been gutted
Coming off the back of a frustration season at Manchester City where injuries affected his playing time, Stones managed to gain full fitness and help England reach the final of Euro 2024.
Considering Gareth Southgate’s side conceded the first goal in every knockout game at the competition, smooth sailing was far from reality for the starters in his team in every match.
With England drawing two out of their three group-stage games against Denmark and Slovenia as well, the team was widely slated.
However, having fought through all the highs and lows, Stones would have felt his fight to be injury-free and help England win the tournament would have been worth the adversity had his nation beat Spain.
But a late winner from Mikel Oyarzabal broke English hearts across the globe — with the six-time Premier League winner perhaps especially being hurt due to all the hard work he perhaps put in behind the scenes and the overarching difficult nature of his side’s campaign.
