Rio Ferdinand believes "naive" England can have no complaints about their embarrassing early exit from the World Cup.
After slumping to 2-1 defeats in their first two matches in Brazil against Italy and Uruguay, Roy Hodgson's team were officially eliminated on Friday when Costa Rica beat the Italians 1-0.
That surprise result left England bottom of Group D and out of the tournament with a match still to play.
Click here to visit The National's World Cup 2014 landing page
It is the first time in 56 years England have failed to make it out of the World Cup group stage and Ferdinand, a former England captain, is adamant Hodgson's squad have only themselves to blame for failing to adopt a more ruthless attitude when the momentum was with them.
"You have to earn the right to stay in a tournament. Unfortunately for us, we have not done that," Ferdinand told the BBC.
"Maybe we were a bit naive in situations, in the Uruguay game when we got back into it at 1-1.
"We had a chance to get a point and dust ourselves down, to say 'right, we are ready for the last game when everything is going to be on it,' but we did not give ourselves the opportunity.
"It was there for us and we just could not see it through."
Former England winger Chris Waddle, who featured in the 1986 and 1990 World Cup squads, admitted he was stunned the national team were already out of the tournament before some teams had even played their second group matches.
"They said there would be three teams fighting to get out of the group but we didn't think England would be bottom," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"England are sitting in their hotel absolutely devastated but they have had two chances to get points on the board and they haven't taken them.
"If you have the best players in the world you can play any system you want but we haven't got that so we have to be hard to beat."
Former England striker Stan Collymore pointed the finger of blame at captain Steven Gerrard, who has produced two lacklustre performances in Brazil.
Liverpool midfielder Gerrard made errors in the build-up to the two Luis Suarez goals for Uruguay and Collymore said on talkSPORT: "Steven Gerrard has been a wonderful servant to Liverpool football club and for England.
"But, for me now, I think he needs to look at himself and say perhaps he wants to extend his club career and retire from the England national scene."
Nottingham Forest boss Stuart Pearce, a former England player and Under-21 national team coach, believes more care and attention needs to be shown to the under-age sides if the national team are to flourish at major tournaments.
"What tends to happen every two years is we get emotionally very highly charged when we go out of a competition like today," he told talkSPORT.
"But the clues are in the two years in between. At all the youth levels we fail to send our best players to tournaments and we fail to give them experience at tournament football and we hope it will all come right on the big stage every two years."
While England's exit has provoked a predictable cry for changes, FA chairman Greg Dyke on Friday confirmed Hodgson will remain as manager and former England striker Alan Shearer is convinced that is the right decision.
"I think he should be given the opportunity to take England to the Euros in two years. We have to see the likes of (Luke) Shaw, (Raheem) Sterling, Ross (Barkley), these guys," Shearer told the BBC.
"Everyone wanted to see the kids given a chance and he went and tried to win the game against Italy. He should be given the chance to finish what he started."
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
MORE ON IRAN'S PROXY WARS
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature
By Marion Rankine
Melville House
FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)
Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)
Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
World Sevens Series standing after Dubai
1. South Africa
2. New Zealand
3. England
4. Fiji
5. Australia
6. Samoa
7. Kenya
8. Scotland
9. France
10. Spain
11. Argentina
12. Canada
13. Wales
14. Uganda
15. United States
16. Russia
Who is Ramon Tribulietx?
Born in Spain, Tribulietx took sole charge of Auckland in 2010 and has gone on to lead the club to 14 trophies, including seven successive Oceania Champions League crowns. Has been tipped for the vacant New Zealand national team job following Anthony Hudson's resignation last month. Had previously been considered for the role.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
Hachette Books
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
