It always ends in penalties, it always ends in tears. RICHARD LITTLEJOHN says he can take the despair. It's the hope he can't stand...

By RICHARD LITTLEJOHN

Eliminated: We might have guessed that England's match with Italy was always going to come down to penalties

We might have guessed it was always going to come down to penalties. We’ve been here before.
There was a grim inevitability about England’s elimination from Euro 2012 on penalties. And Italy deserved their victory. But that’s not to pretend it still doesn’t hurt.
Every two years, I kid myself I don’t care. Why invest emotional energy in a bunch of footballers? It’s only a game.

Despair: Ashley Young falls to the ground after missing a goalscoring chance and sums up how every England fan is feeling

It's a knockout: Ashley Cole has his crucial spotkick saved - leaving the Italians the task of scoring their final penalty to secure a semi-final spot

When England kicked off against France 10 days ago, I feigned indifference. So what if England lose? Life goes on. World Cups, European Championships, it’s bound to end in tears.
But England didn’t lose. They drew with France, beat Sweden and Ukraine, finished top of their group and qualified for the quarter finals. Suddenly, it mattered. Three more wins and four and a half decades of bitter disappointment and under-achievement would be consigned to history. Football’s coming home.

Eliminated: Roy Hodgson, centre, looks dejected after England are beaten by Italy in Kiev last night

Against my better judgment and years of experience I discovered I did care after all. As England progressed and last night’s game against Italy approached, the pulse began to quicken, the optimism returned. This time we really could be in with a chance.
To be honest, it was better when England stuck to the script and crashed out of tournaments prematurely, consumed by hubris and an inflated sense of their own abilities. We’re used to being let down. We can handle it. As John Cleese said in the movie Clockwise: ‘I can take the despair. It’s the hope I can’t stand.’

Disaster: England are out after being beaten 4-2 on penalties. Here four fans watch the match in a bar in Leicester Square, London


Beaten: England fans react during last night's 2012 match in the fan zone in Warsaw, Poland

Ordeal: Two young fans watch the game on a big screen in Newcastle. Italy deserved their victory, but it still hurts

Emotional energy: England supporters in a Bristol pub could hardly watch

Agony: It was better when England stuck to the scripts and crashed out of tournaments prematurely

Agony: It was better when England stuck to the scripts and crashed out of tournaments prematurely
In the third minute, Italy hit the post with goalkeeper Joe Hart well beaten. Was this a portent of an inevitable England defeat, or might this just be our lucky night?
Almost immediately, England carved open the Italian defence and Glen Johnson forced a save from point blank range. Game on.
Welbeck, Parker, then Rooney went close. Italy looked vulnerable. The mercurial Mario Balotelli – mad, bad and barking, but infused with brilliance – repeatedly fluffed his lines in front of England’s goal.
In pubs, clubs and living rooms the length of the country, millions dared to believe. Roy Hodgson’s artisans were acquiring an aristocratic swagger going forward, but ominously showing signs of frailty in defence.
Half time, all square. Within three minutes of the restart, Italy missed a sitter. Ten thousand England fans in the stadium and 18 million watching on TV back home breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Dejected: Wayne Rooney and his team-mates are heading home

Twice in quick succession, the Italians should have scored. If Balotelli had brought his shooting boots, if John Terry hadn’t made a crucial intervention, England would have fallen behind. As Gary Lineker observed at half time, this was becoming ‘exquisitely painful’ to watch.
Hodgson sent on his first two substitutes: tricksy Theo Walcott and Andy Carroll, a pony-tailed battering ram who often looks as if he has wandered on to the pitch direct from the saloon bar of the Coal Heavers’ Arms but has a physical presence which unsettles opponents.
Their introduction energised England. Ashley Young had a golden opportunity to open the scoring, but couldn’t find the net. We slumped back in our sofas and reached for another beer. Italy were in the ascendant but were struggling to profit from their superiority. Wayne Rooney could have punished them, but his hair weave wasn’t thick enough to connect with a testing free kick from Steven Gerrard.


Crusading spirit: A trio of knights and their damsel cheer on the side in Ukraine

source: dailymail