England out. What to say?

A bit late on this one, even though it might have been a good thing to digest yesterday’s quarter-final match between Italy and England.

[ A 0-0 tie and England lost in penalty shoot outs ]

There seems to be a pattern (or curse?! nah, don’t think so) with England losing in quarter-finals and/or penalties since they won the World Cup back in 66. England hasn’t won or reached a semi-final since the 1996 Eurocup played in England nor won any major tournaments.

Yesterday was no different, leaving a that horrible yet familiar feeling in the air: almost.

Almost because England did not play a bad match. The Three Lions created chances and fought Italy in the same level, so to rise from disbelief to hope and then down again… sucks.

But then again, I go back to this: England has not produced any top talent lately (apart from Rooney?!) and the Premiership’s rise in media coverage/attention is mostly due to its international mix rather than to what the English are producing in-house.

Really, FA, this is not so hard to see. Can you manage another 30 years like this?