An Italian astronaut has been criticised by Italian netizens after he congratulated England’s “amazing goal” in the second minute of last night’s heartbreaking final.

Luca Parmitano, 44, an Italian astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency (ESA), celebrated Luke Shaw’s early goal in the EURO 2020 final by writing on Twitter: “What an amazing goal! Well done England.”

Passionate Italian fans wasted no time attacking the astronaut. One netizen wrote “Luca, the English scored, huh? English!”, another user asked”oh Luca, has your account been hacked?” One netizen said: “Look, if you continue like this, next time you’re in space we will leave you there.”

Following the online backlash, the astronaut later wrote in Italian: “For your info: it is obvious that I support Italy, but you must respect your opponent in sport. And the game is about two teams. Now it’s up to the Azzurri to continue playing.”

After the second tweet, some fans calmed down and even praised the ESA astronaut, writing “Bravo Luca. Enjoying sport and supporting in a healthy, non-toxic way.”