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England coach laments shootout failure
The Sun, June 24th, 2012 9:36PM
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TAGS:  england, european championship


England coach Roy Hodgson, after England lost its fifth consecutive shootout at a major tournament when it fell to Italy in the Euro 2012 quarterfinals, insisted there was nothing more England could have done. Ashley Young and Ashley Cole both failed to score from 12 yards out.

"I’ve watched all these players smashing in penalties during training but you can’t reproduce the occasion, the tension and the nervousness," Hodgson said, "No amount of coaching can reproduce the cool calculated way [Italy's] Andrea Pirlo chipped the keeper.

“We had five great penalty takers but unfortunately for us two of them missed. We saw Cole scoring a penalty in the Champions League final for Chelsea and Young has converted many for his club sides. We tried our very best to win, we worked as hard as we could and we survived the cramps and physical problems we suffered. ... We are going out of this tournament unbeaten in normal time. We’re going home because we can’t win a penalty shootout."

As for England's overall play, Hodgson said, "Whether we did enough or were good enough is a matter of opinion but we certainly tried to win it in 90 minutes. There was never any question of playing for penalties. ... For all Italy’s possession they didn’t get behind our defense too often. But we didn’t do as well with the ball as we could have.”

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2 comments
  1. Carlos Thys
    commented on: June 25, 2012 at 6:23 a.m.
    As I pointed out in remarks after the other article on this match, England did not deserve a thing from this match. They were horrid. Specifically I mean all those who are responsible for creating offense. But even in the direct kicks and corners, England could do nothing. Good riddance to Gerrard and Terry. I hope Lampard gets the boot now, too. Time for new blood. If what we viewed is legit (I do have my doubts), whatever Hodgson and his staff did or did not do prior to that match in Kiev, the England team was not ready to play. As an exception for the critiques, I'll give the GK Joe Hart a pass. But guys like Parker, Young, Wellbeck, and Milner totally underperformed with many skills gaffes. ROONEY STUNK! Rooney should donate his entire salary for the next season to two dozen English deserving charities; he looked the useless fool. Sub Andy Carroll was pointless/useless. As was the very last England sub. It was almost like this was an arranged result, i.e. keep it even at 90, even at 120, drop out on PKs. I mean, one cannot even try to play that bad normally on purpose, now can a team? (missed passes, lost passes, ball overturned within seconds, allowing Pirlo to turn and face you whenever he wanted....) And this is a very, very, very ordinary Italian bunch. This was the easiest step England have had to get to a final four in decades, and they botched it completely. I hope they get completely skewered by a merciless English press. As a boy, when growing up, it really meant something to be given the honor to wear the Three Lions.

  1. Carl Grover
    commented on: June 25, 2012 at 10:13 a.m.
    Wow Carlos! I am glad I wasn't watching the game with you. How much monety did you lose on the game?


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