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

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

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.

 

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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.’

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

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

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.

England's terminal problem: A fan watches at Heathrow's Terminal 5 last night, right, after landing at the airport. Left, a fan at the game looks devastated 

Penalty miss: Ashley Young, right, who had his tame spot kick saved last night, arrives back at England's hotel after the defeat

Defeated: Wayne Rooney, left, and goalkeeper Joe Hart arrive back at the England hotel in Krakow last night after being beaten by the Italians

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

So close: Ashley Young's penalty crashes against the bar in the dramatic shoot-out

Unlucky: England left-back Ashley Cole steps up to take his penalty. He missed.

Penalty heartbreak... again: An England fan reacts during last night's match which ended 0-0 after 120 minutes and went to a shootout

We're going home: English fans look devastated as they crash out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage

Not again: It was painful viewing for these fans, watching the game in an Oxford pub

Come on, boys! Supporters show their frustration at a central London bar

Dramatic: A young fan screams while watching the tense quarter-final at a bar in Leicester

Uncomfortable viewing: A fan in Newcastle covers his eyes with a St George's flag

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.

All quiet on the home front: There were bare shelves at Tesco in Bristol (left) after fans stocked up on beer and the M25 was deserted (right) as supporters stayed at home

No 1 fan: England goalkeeper Joe Hart's girlfriend Kimberley Crewe was at the game in Kiev

Flying the flag: A patriotic fan cheers on the team at the Olympic Stadium

Happy and glorious? England fans sing the national anthem before the quarter-final

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

A promising England attack was halted by the referee when an Italian defender conformed to national stereotype and went to ground clutching his face after Scott Parker had accidentally brushed his shoulder. We groaned. Get up you cheat. Five minutes to go, stalemate. Time to contemplate extra time and, whisper it gently, the P-word. Penalties.

Two minutes from the end of normal time, Johnson brilliantly intercepted what looked like certain Italian winner.

And then England had their own chance to seal the deal. A Cole cross, Carroll header and a trademark Rooney bicycle kick which he puts away for fun in training but on this occasion ballooned agonisingly over the bar. Ten minutes into extra time, Italy again hit the post with a speculative cross-cum-shot. Hearts pounded. This would have been a cruel way to be shown the door.

Walcott and Carroll combined to threaten the Italian goal. By now, most of England’s players were running on empty. Scott Parker retired to the bench utterly drained, his last drop of energy spent. As he trudged from the pitch, we remembered that Parker had stepped forward when Roy Hodgson had asked for volunteers in the event of the game going to the P-word.
As Italy pressed, England wilted and again had reason to be grateful for Balotelli’s profligacy.And then, for a heart-stopping moment England looked dead and buried as Italy found the back of the net, only for it to be ruled offside.

While we braced ourselves for penalties, there was time to reflect that whatever the outcome England’s reputation has been resurrected by the performances at this tournament on and off the pitch.

Defeat was no disgrace.

Hold your heads high: Defeat to Italy on penalties was no disgrace at a tournament where expectations were low

Coleen's unlucky shoes

Sparkling: Coleen's trainers brought England no luck in the match against Italy

We are used to seeing her in towering high heels, but Coleen Rooney opted to keep a lower profile in her ‘lucky’  red shoes as she cheered on husband Wayne last night.
The 26-year-old revealed her secret weapon – a pair of personalised Converse trainers – via Twitter last week.
She was wearing the red shoes on Tuesday when her striker husband secured England’s place in the Euro 2012 quarter-finals with the winning goal against Ukraine.
After celebrating with two-year-old son Kai, Mrs Rooney tweeted a picture of the diamanté encrusted trainers and said: ‘Had my red converse on for the match tonight... I’ll have to wear them Sunday now!’
And the mother-of-one confirmed she was indeed wearing her lucky charms again by posting another picture of the shoes on Twitter last night.
Alongside it, she posted a message  to a friend which said: ‘Hi love, got  them on!’
Earlier in the day she sent her husband and the squad some positive vibes, writing on the website:
‘Lovely start to a Sunday morning! Hot yoga, shower and bagels! Excited for match later... good luck!

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