Gareth Southgate’s Pizza Hut commercial mocking his 1996 penalty miss resurfaces after England heartbreak

After waiting 55 years for this moment, Euro 2020 final ended in heartbreak for England.

Italy won with penalty kicks after three missed kicks from Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka, and Marcus Rashford.

Gareth Southgate, the team’s manager, might already be reminiscing about his missed penalty kick at Euro 96 semi-final against Germany, a moment which haunted him for years.

That miss though did see him land a spot on in Pizza Hut commercial

Within the video, you see Southgate alongside Chris Waddle and Stuart Pearce, former players that missed penalty kicks in 1990. It shows the trio sitting at a table, getting ready to be served pizza.

However, Waddle and Pearce continuously joked about the “miss” while Southgate wore a brown paper bag on his head with holes cut out so he could see.

“Come on, Gareth, it only took me six years to get over it. Have some pan pizza, Pearce said in the video.

Taking the pizza off the pate, Southgate lifts the bag over his head just enough to take a bite of the pizza. And seconds later, he takes the bag off his head and completely crumbles it up.

“Thanks a lot, boys. I feel a lot better now,” he says.

Afterwards, he gets up from the table and walks right into a wall as Pearce and Waddle wince at the sight. “Now he’s hit the post,” Pearce jokes.

Twitter was quick to make commentary on England’s sad loss by comparing it to the Pizza Hut advertisement from all those years ago.

Someone else decided to shed light on the treatment of Southgate versus Rashford, Saka, and Sancho, who faced racial injustices due to the missed penalty kicks.

Although Southgate seems to roll with the punches and poke fun at himself, he admitted that he regretted doing the Pizza Hut advertisement and how it affects him to this day.

“I wish I hadn’t done it; people thought I was cashing in on it,” he told FourFourTwo magazine in 2012.

Last year, he spoke with Prince William for Daily Mirror about his missed penalty kick and mental health surrounding players in stressful moments, saying,” professionally, it was the most challenging experience that I’ve been through.”

“The country was on a bit of a tidal wave of emotion and good feeling, and then you walk away from the stadium feeling you’re the person that ultimately responsible for that finishing, “he continued.

Southgate explained to Prince William that he didn’t feel “anger,” he felt regret, remorse, and responsibility to a small degree” that still lives with him to this day because he felt that he failed under pressure.

He also spoke about meeting with Pearce, who gave him “invaluable” advice about what the next few months after his loss might look like, which can affect mental wellbeing and confidence because the situation is publicized.

“There are various issues with people’s mental health that can affect how they feel or how they perform. It’s making sure that we don’t feel there is a stigma for people and that it’s acceptable to look for help,” he adds.