Don't get me wrong, there was undoubtedly a huge contingent of "journalists" and Marxists ready to push an England win as a triumph for diversity. I just don't believe that a manager would deliberately decrease the chances of winning for good boy points, even an insufferable wokester like Southgate.

I'd struggle to think of many managers that have done this in a final, especially so late. Normally, the penalty takers would be introduced with 5 or so minutes to go so they can at least get a few touches in. A couple of prominent examples in major tournaments is the Dutch manager subbing his goalkeeper for penalties and Italy bringing on a guy called Zaza, who took one of the worst penalties I've ever seen. It's not like there were lots of other players who were better suited to taking the penalties though. Maybe Sterling, who is also black, or Grealish.