John Stones admits he is still coming to terms with the hurt of losing a second Euros final with England.
But Stones wants himself and his team-mates to use the pain of the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 loss to Spain in Berlin in July to fuel their bid to win the World Cup in 2026.
The Manchester City defender was also part of the England team which lost the final of Euro 2020 to Italy on penalties at Wembley. And Stones admits the second crushing defeat this summer was the much harder one to take.
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When asked if it takes a while to come to terms with, Stones said: “Yes, it does. The last time was difficult. This time, it was different, a different feeling around everything. A different process through the tournament with how we played and how we managed everything.
“To get to another final is incredible, and I really believed we could do it. Personally, emotionally, I was upset straight away and then angry. I had anger at myself, because of the outcome of it.
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“You always feel you can do more. ‘What if this happened? What if I did that?’. That is just the pure emotion of being self-critical.
“Not getting there again, having that hurt again. It was hard for me. I kind of box it away and try to not think about the pain. But it’s deep. It’s hard to witness and be a part of.”
Stones reckons he will never work out the reasons England failed once again to win their first trophy since 1966. But the 30-year-old is on a mission to help the younger players around him benefit from the experience in the long run.
He added: “I don’t think I will ever know why. I feel how we played, and how we got back into the game, was probably a good reflection of our tournament.
“The fight, the horrible stuff, the desire and the pride that came over us. It is hard for me to say there is one or two things we could have done differently. We will probably never be able to change that.
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“I feel proud of what we achieved in that tournament. It wasn’t what we wanted, obviously, but I feel everyone is going to have different personal emotions towards it.
“And rightly so as well, it is a difficult, stressful time that everyone goes through and (some) people play more than others. I feel we have got to learn from that experience, massively. Me, being one of the senior guys, helping the young guys come through now.
“Hopefully they have good experiences with the clubs, playing in big games, big matches, winning trophies. All those things put together can make a big difference when you are in those big stages.”