Hard luck stories are scant hope for England and Hodgson

It is simply not constructive to dwell on the contention England lost their second Group D game to Uruguay because a Spanish referee failed to send off Diego Godin, or Wayne Rooney’s lousy luck with a back post header hitting the woodwork.

Facts form the backbone of stories, not conjecture, and history will show the clear difference between the Three Lions and La Celeste was Luis Suarez. Two goals on his return a mere month after knee surgery are among the bitterest pills England fans have ever had to swallow.

World class players will punish the smallest errors. Ask Phil Jagielka and Steven Gerrard. Suarez has made a habit of embarrassing the former in Merseyside derbies, but his Liverpool teammate’s misjudged backwards header was the cruellest way to effectively eliminate the Three Lions from the Brazil finals, which are just a week old.

There is still a minimal chance, and to suggest that it is any more is clutching at straws, England could still qualify from this ‘group of death’. Three Lions supporters must cheer on Italy, both against Costa Rica on June 20th and in their final game against Uruguay.

Hodgson’s end of the bargain to somehow sneak through this pool would then require him to mastermind victory over the Central Americans. That would bring things down to goal difference. England need theirs to be superior to both Uruguay and Costa Rica.

As it stands, this is worse and they have scored fewer than both. Odds of 7/1 say the Three Lions will extend their stay in Brazil by qualifying for the knockout phase, but frankly there are nothing like long enough.

Allowances will be made for youngsters like Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and Ross Barkley, because they clearly have international futures. What of skipper Gerrard and fellow 30-somethings Jagielka and Rickie Lambert – a bit-part player at the World Cup?

Rooney finally got that monkey off his back by scoring on the grandest stage, but it is a mere footnote. He takes a backseat in this tale of talismans because of Suarez’s decisive brace. It was another night of missed opportunities, poor choices and crossing in the final third and defensive inadequacy.