By Nick Powell
England 1-2 Iceland
England's Euro 2016 journey came to an embarrassing end as they were beaten by Iceland, a country that has a population 165 times smaller than them, in what is likely to go down as one of their all time worst defeats.
Many England fans would have been relieved as their side drew Iceland, rather than familiar foes Portugal in the last 16, and after Wayne Rooney slotted a penalty inside 4 minutes, it seemed England were on course to coast into a quarter final with France.
But Iceland were level within a minute England failed to defend a long throw in, something Iceland had even warned their rivals about in the build up. After a flick on, Ragnar Sigurdsson bundled home to draw the minnows level.
And England were soon behind, comical defending allowing Kolbeinn Sigthorsson room to shoot. The shot was a poor one, but Joe Hart's horrendous tournament continued as he allowed it to trickle in, despite getting a hand behind it.
Hodgson made changes and England fought hard for an equaliser, but Iceland comfortably held out for what is surely the biggest win in their footballing history, and most certainly one of England's worst.
Frantic Start Sees England Fall Behind
There was a lot of talk of how important an early goal would be, when England faced Denmark in 2002, they nicked an early goal that led to 3 against a similarly small, defensive team. That theory was quickly put into practice. England were up inside 3 minutes. A stunning ball from Sturridge found Sterling and after he went down in the penalty area, Rooney calmly slotted to give England the lead from the spot.
But England had barely comprehended their early lead before it was gone. 90 seconds after that moment, horrendous England defending allowed a flick on from a throw in to find Sigurdsson free 4 yards out who lashed home to immediately hit back.
It got worse though. The defending for Iceland's second goal was almost disgraceful. Eric Dier and centre backs Smalling and Cahill stood off, failed to track their men or even attempt to make any kind of tackle and Sigthorsson shot. It was not a brilliant shot and should have been saved, but Joe Hart should take no more blame than the 3 men in front of him.
As soon as England were down, they were in big trouble. They have struggled to break teams down throughout the tournament and Iceland had been one of the finest defensive sides in this year's tournament so England were always likely to struggle.
Hapless Hodgson Quits Almost Instantly
Before the players received their deserved criticism, Roy Hodgson has to take a huge amount of criticism on his own shoulders. Despite having a free run through qualifying, dozens of friendlies and experience at another major tournament, you have to wonder what on earth England's tactics were.
And this game should have been a given. England were so dominant in all three group games but managed just one very fortunate win. Given that then, he should have known his best team, and how England were going to beat Iceland, a very defensively strong team. England had no plan, no structure and no idea how they were going to break the World's number 34 team down.
Defensively they were embarassing and completely structureless too. The only two ways you could see Iceland were scoring were long throws and on the counter and they scored off both inside 18 minutes. Why on earth couldn't England deal with that?
After that goal it was always going to be more difficult to find an equaliser, but England made a mountain out of a potential molehill. They didn't look like scoring, and made some of Iceland's semi-pros look like World Class defenders. You dread to think what have happened if they had faced a half decent side at this tournament.
Roy had to leave, he had to go. Throughout this tournament his management has been frankly clueless. Yes he made two good subs against Wales but that is it, and you question more the team he picked in the first place in that game. The six changes off the back of that win which killed England's momentum, resulting in them finishing 2nd in the group. It was poor throughout. It's difficult to feel sympathy for him.
Players Deserve Criticism Too However
Even if England were managed by a donkey, they still should have one tonight, and the players on the pitch were awful. The defensive inability to pick up players, watch out for a threat, position themselves correctly and even to know when or not to make a tackle was terrible to watch, the two Iceland goals were two of the most poorly defended this tournament has seen.
And it's not as if we made up for it with a thrilling attack. Build up that was as slow as Louis Van Gaal's Man United side which would result in shots that were blazed over the bar or fired straight at the keeper. England never looked comfortable in possession. They only had one half they looked capable of scoring a goal in open play in, and lets bear in mind that the Welsh defending for those goals was really quite bad.
The players wanted it, they wanted it badly but they looked devoid of belief throughout. 30 out of 30 qualifying points and yet they have no self-confidence. There isn't a single player that you'd back in that England team to produce a spark that could be match winning and yet, they were all looking round as if they expected one of their peers to provide it, it was almost comical in the second half.
Joe Hart has had a dreadful tournament, he has failed to save at the very least two very save-able shots. He was let off the hook with the first one, not with the second. Eric Dier and Wayne Rooney exceeded expectations, but were atrocious tonight along with Dele Alli and Harry Kane who were poor throughout the tournament. Raheem Sterling was one of England's finest players, summing up their horrendous day.
They may well be a better side in Russia in 2 years time, but it cannot be denied that this was a great opportunity to play some top teams in a major tournament. It would have been fair enough had they gone out to France and learned a lot from the defeat, but they will learn absolutely nothing from this joke of a campaign.
England: Hart 4, Rose 6, Cahill 4, Smalling 4, Walker 4, Alli 5, Dier 4, Rooney 4, Sturridge 5, Kane 4, Sterling 6
Total: 49/110
Iceland: Halldorsson 5, Saevorsson 7, Amason 7, Sigurdsson 8 (M.O.M), Skulason 6, Berg Gudmansson 7, Gunnarsson 7, Sigurdsson 8, Bjarnason 7, Sigthordsson 8, Bodvarsson 6
Total: 76/110
England 1-2 Iceland
England's Euro 2016 journey came to an embarrassing end as they were beaten by Iceland, a country that has a population 165 times smaller than them, in what is likely to go down as one of their all time worst defeats.Many England fans would have been relieved as their side drew Iceland, rather than familiar foes Portugal in the last 16, and after Wayne Rooney slotted a penalty inside 4 minutes, it seemed England were on course to coast into a quarter final with France.
But Iceland were level within a minute England failed to defend a long throw in, something Iceland had even warned their rivals about in the build up. After a flick on, Ragnar Sigurdsson bundled home to draw the minnows level.
And England were soon behind, comical defending allowing Kolbeinn Sigthorsson room to shoot. The shot was a poor one, but Joe Hart's horrendous tournament continued as he allowed it to trickle in, despite getting a hand behind it.
Hodgson made changes and England fought hard for an equaliser, but Iceland comfortably held out for what is surely the biggest win in their footballing history, and most certainly one of England's worst.
Frantic Start Sees England Fall Behind
There was a lot of talk of how important an early goal would be, when England faced Denmark in 2002, they nicked an early goal that led to 3 against a similarly small, defensive team. That theory was quickly put into practice. England were up inside 3 minutes. A stunning ball from Sturridge found Sterling and after he went down in the penalty area, Rooney calmly slotted to give England the lead from the spot.
But England had barely comprehended their early lead before it was gone. 90 seconds after that moment, horrendous England defending allowed a flick on from a throw in to find Sigurdsson free 4 yards out who lashed home to immediately hit back.
It got worse though. The defending for Iceland's second goal was almost disgraceful. Eric Dier and centre backs Smalling and Cahill stood off, failed to track their men or even attempt to make any kind of tackle and Sigthorsson shot. It was not a brilliant shot and should have been saved, but Joe Hart should take no more blame than the 3 men in front of him.
As soon as England were down, they were in big trouble. They have struggled to break teams down throughout the tournament and Iceland had been one of the finest defensive sides in this year's tournament so England were always likely to struggle.
Hapless Hodgson Quits Almost Instantly
Before the players received their deserved criticism, Roy Hodgson has to take a huge amount of criticism on his own shoulders. Despite having a free run through qualifying, dozens of friendlies and experience at another major tournament, you have to wonder what on earth England's tactics were.
England didn't seem to have any sort of game plan against Iceland
Defensively they were embarassing and completely structureless too. The only two ways you could see Iceland were scoring were long throws and on the counter and they scored off both inside 18 minutes. Why on earth couldn't England deal with that?
After that goal it was always going to be more difficult to find an equaliser, but England made a mountain out of a potential molehill. They didn't look like scoring, and made some of Iceland's semi-pros look like World Class defenders. You dread to think what have happened if they had faced a half decent side at this tournament.
Roy had to leave, he had to go. Throughout this tournament his management has been frankly clueless. Yes he made two good subs against Wales but that is it, and you question more the team he picked in the first place in that game. The six changes off the back of that win which killed England's momentum, resulting in them finishing 2nd in the group. It was poor throughout. It's difficult to feel sympathy for him.
Players Deserve Criticism Too However
Even if England were managed by a donkey, they still should have one tonight, and the players on the pitch were awful. The defensive inability to pick up players, watch out for a threat, position themselves correctly and even to know when or not to make a tackle was terrible to watch, the two Iceland goals were two of the most poorly defended this tournament has seen.
And it's not as if we made up for it with a thrilling attack. Build up that was as slow as Louis Van Gaal's Man United side which would result in shots that were blazed over the bar or fired straight at the keeper. England never looked comfortable in possession. They only had one half they looked capable of scoring a goal in open play in, and lets bear in mind that the Welsh defending for those goals was really quite bad.
The players wanted it, they wanted it badly but they looked devoid of belief throughout. 30 out of 30 qualifying points and yet they have no self-confidence. There isn't a single player that you'd back in that England team to produce a spark that could be match winning and yet, they were all looking round as if they expected one of their peers to provide it, it was almost comical in the second half.
England's players grossly underperformed
Joe Hart has had a dreadful tournament, he has failed to save at the very least two very save-able shots. He was let off the hook with the first one, not with the second. Eric Dier and Wayne Rooney exceeded expectations, but were atrocious tonight along with Dele Alli and Harry Kane who were poor throughout the tournament. Raheem Sterling was one of England's finest players, summing up their horrendous day.
They may well be a better side in Russia in 2 years time, but it cannot be denied that this was a great opportunity to play some top teams in a major tournament. It would have been fair enough had they gone out to France and learned a lot from the defeat, but they will learn absolutely nothing from this joke of a campaign.
The trap was set, and the players dived head first into it, take nothing away from Iceland, but each and every one of that starting XI needs to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror tonight, they were shambolic.
England: Hart 4, Rose 6, Cahill 4, Smalling 4, Walker 4, Alli 5, Dier 4, Rooney 4, Sturridge 5, Kane 4, Sterling 6
Total: 49/110
Iceland: Halldorsson 5, Saevorsson 7, Amason 7, Sigurdsson 8 (M.O.M), Skulason 6, Berg Gudmansson 7, Gunnarsson 7, Sigurdsson 8, Bjarnason 7, Sigthordsson 8, Bodvarsson 6
Total: 76/110
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