Marcus Rashford explains impact of racist abuse after England penalty miss in Euro 2020 final

Rashford, Sancho and Saka then suffered racist abuse online in the aftermath of that defeat.

And the 25-year-old, speaking on the Overlap, has now admitted the abuse impacted him after the tournament.

"I maybe lost my love for football a little bit [after being racially abused following Euro 2020], it was not for a long period of time," he said.

"My shoulders were also down for a couple of months, and that's probably when it was playing on my mind a little bit more.

"After that, it was fine.

"I was desperate to get playing again in a United shirt – I love to just play football and as soon as I did that, I wanted to play for England again."

Rashford scored just five goals for United during the 2021/2022 season following the abuse.

Yet he's since rediscovered his mojo ever since the appointment of Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.

Rashford helped England make the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar last year, with the Three Lions crashing out to France.

Given his stunning form over the past year, however, Rashford is likely to play a big role for Gareth Southgate's side in the years to come.

And Rashford is eager to become a starter for England and believes Southgate now possesses one of the strongest squads in international football.

It's massively important [for me to start for England in a major tournament]," he said.

"There's been times in between major tournaments where I've started for 18 months, then it comes to the tournament and I'm not starting.

"It's important for me as a player to try and get that spot nailed down and try and bring my qualities to the team.

"We've got many good players, and there's a time for every player – but I've still not had my proper opportunity in major tournaments.

"If we get little things right, we can compete with the best teams in the world – as we’ve already shown.

"There’s still another step to take and I believe we can take it.

"Everyone in the squad is at good ages. We’ve got a big opportunity that I don’t want to throw away."

While Rashford has improved under Ten Hag, he was dropped by the United boss for a 1-0 win over Wolves last year.

The England international was benched having turned up late for a team meeting, though did come on to score the winner.

And Rashford has now revealed he was only 45 seconds late - but knew he'd be punished by Ten Hag as a result.

"I learnt from pre-season because a few of the lads had been late and it was important for him to implement those rules in that situation," explained the forward.

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"I wasn't even late that much but it was probably around 45 seconds or a minute.

"I already knew what was going to happen and I wasn't going to argue about it.

"We had a game to try to win and Wolves away for us in the last few years hasn't been easy."