Amarachi, wife of Arsenal legend Nwankwo Kanu, has passionately defended onetime Nigeria Football Federation target Bukayo Saka in the wake of England's penalty shootout defeat to Italy in the final of the 2020 European Championship.

The Arsenal young star was one of three England players to miss consecutive spot kicks in the showpiece at Wembley on Sunday.

Gareth Southgate's decision to allow a 19-year-old take the decisive kick has been criticized by fans and pundits, considering that the Hale End Academy graduate is not the designated penalty taker at Arsenal, with the likes of
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette ahead of him in Mikel Arteta's pecking order.

Saka was one of the victims of disgusting social media abuse after the final, the others being Manchester United duo Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho.

The annoyance of the fans and the lack of respect were reflected in several comments against the players on their personal social media accounts.

Arsenal have come out to defend their Player of the Season and condemned the racist abuse aimed at Saka.

In an Instagram post, the Gunners stated : "Last night, we saw Bukayo reach the Euro 2020 final at the age of 19 years old.

"Bukayo has been with us since he was seven and the whole club couldn’t have been prouder to see him represent England throughout the tournament. You could feel it right across the club.

"Last night we witnessed the leadership and character we’ve always known and loved in Bukayo. However, this feeling of pride quickly turned to sorrow at the racist comments our young player was subjected to on his social media platforms after the final whistle.

"Once again, we are sad to have to say we condemn the racism of a number of black players. This cannot continue and the social media platforms and authorities must act to ensure this disgusting abuse to which our players are subjected on a daily basis stops now.

"We have processes in place internally at Arsenal to ensure our players are supported both emotionally and practically on this issue but sadly there is only so much we can do.

"Our message to Bukayo is: hold your head high, we are so very proud of you and we cannot wait to welcome you back home to Arsenal soon."

Reacting to Arsenal's post, Amara Kanu backed Saka by posting a love emoji, "❤️".

The versatile Saka was involved in four of the last five games played by the Three Lions at the European Championship, starting against Czech Republic, Germany and Denmark, and was a second half substitute against the Italians.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : arsenal.com