Apple TV’s Emmy-nominated comedy series Ted Lasso held its Season 2 premiere Thursday night in Los Angeles with Jason Sudeikis, winner of last year’s Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a television musical or comedy, showing his support for English soccer players Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka with a sweatshirt bearing their names. Sancho, Rashford and Saka, all of whom are black, were each subject to racist taunts and abuse on social media after missing crucial penalty kicks in Sunday’s loss to Italy in the Euro final.
A mural of Rashford in Manchester, where he has played club soccer for Manchester United since 2015, was vandalized over the weekend, eliciting strong responses from both the England Football Association and manager Gareth Southgate, who called the racism aimed at his players “unforgiveable.” As of Thursday, four arrests have been made in connection with racist threats and online attacks against Sancho, Rashford and Saka.
Many questioned Southgate for calling on Saka, a 19-year-old who, before Sunday, had never attempted a penalty kick in a professional game. Rashford and Sancho were similarly odd choices after entering the game as substitutions late in the second overtime period. Sunday’s gut-wrenching defeat at Wembley Stadium marked England’s first appearance in the Euro final, improving on their previous best, achieving third-place finishes in both 1968 and 1996.
Sudeikis has earned rave reviews for his portrayal of the titular character Ted Lasso, a novice soccer coach tasked with breathing new life into underachieving Premier League side AFC Richmond. The show’s whimsy and “unrelenting optimism,” as described by review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, made it an instant hit, resonating with audiences who needed a feel-good narrative and likeable protagonist to rally around during last year’s COVID pandemic. Season 2’s premiere will be available for streaming on Apple TV+ July 23rd.
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