'Let my country down' - Man City get Manu Akanji help after England heartbreak

You did not have to be a Manchester City supporter to feel sorry for Manu Akanji on Saturday.

The Blues defender has been one of the standout players of the tournament and had impressed again over 120 minutes of the quarter-final with England before becoming the first Swiss player to step up in the penalty shootout. It was a poor penalty though - one you might expect from a centre-back, you could argue - and after seeing his tame effort saved by Jordan Pickford it was an agonising end for Akanji as he had to watch England slot home another four penalties to win the game.

City teammates Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and John Stones were among the England players to console him on the pitch, but they couldn't lift the defender. "The disappointment is big," he told reporters after the match. "It feels like I let the team down and let the whole country down. I tried to take responsibility and had a good feeling that I would score but I shot in the wrong corner and I didn't shoot it precise enough."

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Back in Manchester, psychologist David Young and staff are aware that players need to be looked after when returning to the club after a break or time away with the national team. That can be essential after a miss such as Akanji's but equally after a player experiences the ecstasy of victory; Jack Grealish would almost certainly have had a better 2023/24 campaign if his 22/23 campaign had been worse.

Akanji may be fine after a break, but it would be understandable if he wasn't - Fernandinho's form slumped after his part in Brazil's 7-1 defeat to Germany in the