Victory for Italy: Alessandro Diamanti celebrates after scoring the winning penalty in the shoot-out last night to take the Italians through to the semi-finals where they will play Germany

Mr Cameron said he was not convinced by Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon’s claim that he prepared for the game by watching movies instead of studying England’s penalty-takers.

'I think he was concentrating a bit harder than that,' he said. 'But I would like to congratulate the team and the manager and all who worked so hard with them and for them to put on a great display. They made the country proud to go through the group stage in the way that they did.'

England captain Steven Gerrard last night vowed to lead the country to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil after the penalty shootout heartbreak.

'We have given a good account of ourselves,' he said. 'We haven't blown people away but we stuck together, fought hard and gave every inch of effort.

'However, at times we have found it difficult to keep the ball. The possession stats speak for themselves. It tells you that moving forward as a nation, we do need to try and improve with the ball.'

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