The 2-1 loss to Iceland, ranked 34th in the world and with a population of just 330,000, in the last 16 of Euro 2016 stands alongside the 1-0 defeat by the United States in the 1950 World Cup in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, as the darkest moment in England’s football history.
England manager Roy Hodgson resigned within 20 minutes of the final whistle. England’s credibility was destroyed and the reputation of every player whose hand and boot was imprinted on this national embarrassment will be tainted forever.
Hodgson was the biggest and swiftest casualty as England, and its rulers the Football Association, sift through the wreckage of its worst night in recent memory.
Why Hodgson had to go
Roy Hodgson was finished as England manager once this defeat by Iceland was confirmed. He could not survive, especially after FA chairman Greg Dyke suggested a quarter-final was a minimum requirement – and even then it needed to be a decent performance in defeat.
Hodgson saved the FA the bother of sacking him by reading from a prepared letter to confirm he was resigning. He had finished his contract and it was not simply the right decision, it was the only decision.
If we suggest Hodgson had a free hit at Euro 2012 because he had barely walked through Wembley’s doors to succeed Fabio Capello, then there is no escaping his dismal record in the two major tournaments he has overseen since.
Hodgson was manager as England went out of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil at the group stage following defeats by Italy and Uruguay.
It was a fiasco and yet expectations had been dampened to such a extent Hodgson and his players received polite applause when they acknowledged fans at the conclusion of a goalless dead rubber with Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte.
The supporters, and perhaps the FA, seemed lulled into thinking this was not so bad. Words of support were delivered and 10 wins out of 10 in a relatively comfortable Euro 2016 qualifying group covered up the cracks in Hodgson’s ability to manage on the highest stage.
England won one game out of four in France, a last-minute 2-1 win over Wales, drew two and lost one.
Hodgson simply could not inspire performances out of an England squad that left for France with a measure of excitement surrounding it.
The final straw was being outflanked tactically to such an extent by Iceland’s veteran coach Lars Lagerback and his partner Heimir Hallgrimsson, a dentist by trade, that he was left looking a man out of his time and out his depth in the second half in Nice.
It was the final act of a tenure that will be remembered for the dramatic failures in Brazil and France.
Source: BBC
