NICE, FRANCE-Iceland pulled off one of the biggest shocks in European Championship history by beating England 2-1 in the round of 16 on Monday, continuing the astonishing run of the smallest nation at the tournament.
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“Now is the time for someone else to oversee the progress of this young, hungry and extremely talented group of players”, Hodgson said.
“I am actually proud of the work that my coaching staff and I have achieved in our time at the helm with England”.
“The transition from the squad whose average age was 30 to now being the youngest in the tournament is both remarkable and exciting for the future of English football”.
Some observers said this was England’s worse result since losing to the United States in the World Cup in 1950, while others pointed to their thrashing by Hungary in 1954.
“I want people to know how much we put in and it’s not down to desire or anything like that, ultimately it’s down to the performance why we’re in this situation”.
Gareth Southgate, the England Under-21 manager was installed as the early favourite for the job, with Gary Neville, Hodgson’s outgoing assistant also on bookmakers’ early lists.
Roy Hodgson’s four-year reign in charge of England came to an end on Monday, here we look at the numbers from his tenure. I am sorry it has had to end in this way with another exit but these things happen. They have been fantastic and done everything asked of them.
He was allowed to remain in his role, but despite a youthful England team qualifying for Euro 2016 with a flawless record of 10 wins, they once again fell apart at a major tournament.
“We’ve been unable to deliver. They did not have their best game but nor did we”. “We had high hopes of progressing through to the latter stages of the competition and accept that we have not met our own expectations or those of the country”.
Roy Hodgson’s side failed to create any clear goalscoring chances for the remainder of the last 16 tie leaving their astonishing travelling supporters in hysterics. They’re Premier League players but they’re not more than that.
For their victorious Icelandic opponents, who face hosts France in the last eight, it was the next step in a spectacular rise which has seen them beat World Cup runners-up Netherlands home and away plus Czech Republic and Turkey in qualifying. One of their disciples was Lars Lagerback, now Iceland’s co-coach. “I was more relaxed against England than I was during the game against Austria”, he said.
The 2016 UEFA Euro Cup is held in France between June 10 and July 10 with matches played in 10 different locations, namely in Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Etienne and Toulouse. “Respect to a really, really good coach”.
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England may have completed 1,315 passes to Iceland’s 485, and have had 64 shots to their 23, yet the Nordic nation outscored them and garnered more points during the group stage.
