Football
10y

Hoddle: England made schoolboy error

Glenn Hoddle has accused England of committing a "schoolboy error" in allowing Luis Suarez to snatch the winner in their 2-1 defeat to Uruguay.

- Mitten: Suarez sinks England
- Hodgson 'devastated' by defeat to Uruguay

Three Lions captain Steven Gerrard contributed to his side's downfall as he inadvertently deflected a header into the path of Liverpool teammate Suarez in the build-up to his second goal of the game.

Following Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Italy, Thursday's outcome leaves England relying on the results of others to give them an outside chance of reaching the knockout stage of the competition.

"We have been beaten by a world-class finisher," Hoddle, who managed England at the 1998 World Cup, told ITV. "If we had a finisher like that we'd have won both games [against Italy and Uruguay]. He was very quiet apart from his two goals.

"Suarez made the difference, but it was a schoolboy error for the goal. One punt down the pitch and they score. You won't see another goal in the World Cup like that, you really won't.

"We the had momentum of the game after Rooney's goal, but we lost it. The difference between success and failure can be thin in a World Cup and we've seen that in England's two games.

"That said, we do have problems. There is a lot we need to improve on as a team moving forward. Our movement is poor in the final third. I keep seeing us coming inside and not getting in behind. If you can get into that position, you have half a chance, but we didn't do it enough."

Former England captain Alan Shearer was also critical of England's defensive line, suggesting that they had made crucial mistakes in the defeats to both Italy and Uruguay at this summer's World Cup.

"As long as we continue to defend as we did tonight and against Italy then we'll struggle to progress. I didn't see many positives in that performance," Shearer told BBC.

"[Wayne] Rooney's first World Cup goal maybe, but there weren't big performances from our big players. Raheem Sterling didn't really turn up, [Daniel] Sturridge struggled at times, but the huge concern was the way we defended for the goals conceded."

England defender Phil Jagielka believes the side missed a chance to push home their advantage after Rooney's second-half equaliser, while admitting he was "devastated" by the Three Lions' second successive loss in Brazil.

"It's gutting. We played so well again in spells, unfortunately a little bit of luck went against us," Jagielka told ITV. "Steven flicking the ball on and Suarez gets the wrong side. We're pretty disappointed. A boot down the pitch, flick on and the goal.

"It's similar to the Italy game. We played pretty well, but not good enough. We have a small chance of getting through [to the next phase], but as you can tell from my voice, we are all devastated."

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