Eyes on the ball: England desperately defend a corner in the goalless first half

The statistics that emerged at the sound of the final whistle concerning Italy’s superiority illustrated as much. The fact that Cesare Prandelli’s team struck the post twice and had a goal disallowed for offside. The fact that England’s players spent much of the night chasing the peerless Andrea Pirlo in vain.

Pirlo (below) was magnificent, crowning one of the finest individual displays we have seen here in eastern Europe with a chipped penalty that was simply sublime. Joe Hart stuck his tongue out in a desperate attempt to put him off and Pirlo punished England’s goalkeeper for his impertinence. The man has nerves of steel as well as the touch of an angel.

To the list of England’s failures Hodgson has to add another one. In particular to the five penalty defeats by Portugal, Argentina and Germany.

But for England’s new manager there is more. There is a deeper understanding of the job he has; the task he faces; the fact that there remains much work to do before England can win a game like this.

Hodgson will also focus on the positives of the last few weeks and rightly so. He will remind himself how low the expectations were amid the chaos of his last-minute appointment just 56 days ago — 43 if you  discount the 13 he spent as West Bromwich Albion manager.

« Previous1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435Next »