England left devastated

ENGLAND 1

Rooney 75

URUGUAY 2

Luis Suarez 39, 85

England manager Roy Hodgson said England’s defeat to Uruguay was a ‘major sadness’.

Two goals from Luis Suarez proved too much for an England team that, after the positives they showed in defeat to Italy, produced a disjointed performance in this Group D encounter.

The defeat leaves them on the brink of elimination and Hodgson described Suarez’s winner, which came from a long punt downfield, as an ‘unbelievable blow’.

Hodgson said after  the match: “I don’t think anyone let me down, the team down, or the country down.

“We conceded two goals, but didn’t concede many other chances at all. I thought we had a lot more possession but they stood firm and we couldn’t score.

“We played against a strong side defensively and maybe they restricted spaces a bit better.

“Everyone tried very hard and the mood is very low. It is hard to know what to say.”

He added: “We are more than disappointed, we believed we could do enough in this game to get a result. 

“Having worked so hard to counter the first goal, I fully believed we would win the game or at least draw the game. We had been in control for such a long period of time.

“To concede the goal is an unbelievable blow. It is a goal we don’t expect to concede, we deal with them. We dealt with the Uruguayan attack well for long spells but came across a very strong defensive unit ourselves.

“Luis Suarez scored the two goals. The first goal was exceptionally good, top, top class. 

“The second one he was a bit fortunate to get himself free but when he did he made literally no mistake.

“They had been nowhere near our goal, it doesn’t matter how many times you get near their goal though it is how many times you put it in the back of the net and on both occasions we haven’t done it enough.”

Defender Phil Jagielka added: “Gutting. To have played so well again in spells, but unfortunately a little bit of luck goes their way. 

“It’s a similar story to the Italy game, we played pretty well but obviously not well enough. 

“As a defender, the last thing you want to see is a punt down the pitch, a flick-on and a goal.

“We’ll look at what’s gone on, but as you can tell from my voice, everyone’s pretty gutted in there.”