Keeper thought it was going to be England's night

Joe Hart: Goalkeeper thought it was going to be England's night against Italy

Joe Hart admits he thought it was going to be England's night against Italy after expressing his disappointment at the team's elimination from Euro 2012.

England had ridden their luck at times in the group phase, but won two of their three games to finish top and set up a quarter-final date with Italy.

The meeting with the Azzurri in Kiev appeared to be following a similar pattern as Daniele de Rossi and Alessandro Diamanti both hit the post before Antonio Nocerino had a goal disallowed.

Riccardo Montolivo's penalty miss then gave England the advantage in the shoot-out, only for Ashley Young and Ashley Cole to fail from 12 yards to hand Diamanti the chance to send Italy into a semi-final clash with Germany.

Quality

Asked if he thought it was going to be England's night after those earlier escapes, Hart said: "I thought it was going to be our night whether those things didn't happen.

"I thought it was going to be our night because of the side we had, the heart we had, the quality we had, but unfortunately it wasn't to be, we didn't do well in the shoot-out, myself included.

"We've gone out of a tournament that we've laid the foundations for really well, played with everything we've got and unfortunately we weren't good enough tonight, losing on penalties."

The Manchester City keeper also admitted he was struggling to take many positives from the experience immediately after the match.

"I'd like to be optimistic now but that's not the feeling in my heart at the moment," he said. "I'm an emotional guy and I put everything I had into these past couple of weeks.

"I'm gutted for the people who paid money to come out here to support us and see us and for the people back home."

On how he will reflect back on the tournament overall, Hart added: "Right now, not well. We'll have to wait and see in a couple of days."