A tired and weary English team returned home on Tuesday after their ouster from the World Cup.
No fans were in sight to welcome Fabio Capello’s men when they stepped off the plane at London’s Heathrow airport at around 6:20 am.
The players, most of them clad in their England suits, looked weary. Many of them were carrying hand baggage and some had pillows under their arms.
The English squad has been roundly criticised in the press for their poor performance in South Africa, culminating in a 4-1 Round of 16 thrashing by Germany on Sunday.
Several newspapers called on Capello to resign, among them the Sun, which said David Beckham should replace the Italian coach.
The former England captain, who now plays for Los Angeles Galaxy, was ruled out of the squad because of injury, but accompanied the team to South Africa for the World Cup.
On Monday, Capello attributed the squad’s lethargic performance to tiredness after a long Premier League season.
In a press conference in Rustenburg, South Africa, Capello said he wanted to stay on as England manager, but would have to wait two weeks to learn if the Football Association wanted to keep him.
“I have got a contract and I refused a lot of opportunities to be a manager from a lot of important clubs because I would like to stay here,” he said.
The 64-year-old, who last month extended his contract until 2012, said: “I understand a lot after this tournament, because the performance was not what we wanted. We were very tired.”
Now, his own future aside, the biggest debate in England, after the disastrous campaign in South Africa, is which players should be dropped and who should be brought in to rescue English football from yet another low point.
— DPA