England manager Gareth Southgate’s decision to hand Bukayo Saka the decisive fifth penalty for the European Championship final shoot-out against Italy was a surprise for some of his England team-mates.

It is understood that Saka volunteered for a spot-kick, despite the fact he had suffered mixed results over the past week in penalty practice during training.

England players were impressed by Saka’s bravery, given he is aged only 19, and have rallied round him since his miss, but there was some surprise that Southgate included him among the first five takers. Southgate confirmed that it was he as coach, rather than the players, who decided who would take England’s penalties, and in which order.

England’s planning for penalty shoot-outs has been meticulous for over three years, with Southgate’s assistant Steve Holland keeping a running league table from training.

Southgate and Holland also log players’ penalty records for their clubs, but Saka’s spot-kick against Italy in the final was the first he had taken in his senior career. He had previously scored twice from the spot in the FA Youth Cup and for England U-18s - and missed for the juniors against Czech Republic.

Saka was the surprise choice to take the fifth penalty ahead of more senior England players such as Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish - although the Aston Villa forward has insisted he volunteered to step up. However, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and midfielder Kalvin Phillips were next in line after Saka. Southgate has been hugely impressed not only by Saka’s talent during the Euros, but also the teenager’s character and believed he could cope with the pressure.

As well as Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho missed penalties, and all three players have since been the victims of racist abuse on social media.

Southgate said: “They should be – and I think they are – incredibly proud of what they've done. For some of them to be abused is unforgivable, really. I know a lot has come from abroad. People who track those things have been able to explain that, but not all of it.

“It's just not what we stand for. We have been a beacon of light in bringing people together and people being able to relate to the national team and the national team stands for everybody. So, that togetherness has to continue.

“It's my decision who takes penalties. It's not a case of players not volunteering or more experienced players backing out.

"They didn't have a chance. It was my decision to give the penalties to the guys that took them. (I've) still got huge belief in them.

"Bukayo has been an absolute star in this tournament; incredible maturity the way he has played. He's brought smiles to people's faces and is such a popular member of the group. I know he has everyone's support."

Roy Keane, the ITV pundit and former Manchester United and Ireland captain, said immediately after the match that older players such as Grealish and Sterling should have asked to take a penalty ahead of Saka.

But Grealish insisted he asked to take a spot-kick, but was not selected by Southgate.

"I said I wanted to take one," Grealish said. "The gaffer has made so many right decisions through this tournament and he did tonight.

"But I won't have people say that I didn't want to take a 'peno' when I said I will."

England have practised penalties at every camp since Russia, but do not have many takers in their squad. Only Harry Kane and Rashford could be considered regular takers for their clubs. Sterling's penalty record for Manchester City is poor and his miss against Brighton last season was his third failure in a row.

Of the other players left on the pitch, none had taken more than three penalties at club level.

But Jude Bellingham joined Southgate in supporting the unfortunate spot-kick trio.

"We win together and we lose together," Bellingham said. "So proud to have team-mates with such top character. Takes huge b*******s just to volunteer. As for the racism, hurtful but not surprising.

"Will never get bored of saying that more needs to be done. Educate and control the platforms!"

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]