Tammy Abraham has revealed that his mother was left in tears after learning of the racist abuse aimed at her son following Chelsea’s UEFA Super Cup defeat to Liverpool last month.
[ MORE: How will USMNT line up against Uruguay? ]
Abraham missed the decisive penalty kick in the penalty shootout and was subjected to racist comments on social media. Abraham says the abuse didn’t greatly affect him due to being “a strong character” — quotes from the Guardian:“I remember speaking to my mum. She was emotional, she was in tears.
“She was just thinking, ‘Why him?’ It’s obviously not nice, seeing your son getting abused. For me I am a strong character. It doesn’t affect me as much, but it could affect people who don’t have my personality.
“I was sat in the changing room straight after the game and went on my phone. I wasn’t going to shy away from the situation, although saying that I did have some supportive messages. The other side is not nice to hear. The first time I heard, I was sat in the dressing room. I went through a lot of emotion I would say after the penalty miss.
“I had experience of taking penalties last season, big ones as well. Everyone misses penalties. To miss the penalty, I was devastated and I had a lot of abuse after.”
Abraham says he wasn’t left to sulk for long, nor was he forced to pick himself back up on his own. He says he received endless support from manager Frank Lampard and teammates, all of whom immediately rallied around Abraham.
“Frank Lampard always had his arm around my shoulder lifting me up, the boys as well,” Abraham said. “It was like I never missed with the way they supported me and lifted me up and that is exactly what I needed.”
