Football
Nick Miller, ESPN.com writer 8y

England embarrassed by Iceland after poor showing at Euro 2016

England finished second in their group, then were knocked out by minnows Iceland in the round of 16. Not a good tournament for the Three Lions as Roy Hodgson resigned immediately after.

At a glance

Until the Iceland game, the word to sum up England's Euro 2016 campaign was "frustrating": after it, "embarrassing" was more accurate. They looked disjointed throughout, and while there were moments of hope in the group games, they were dashed in the knockouts in the most abject fashion.

Highlight

Pickings are pretty slim in a tournament that featured three largely frustrating performances and one utterly abject one, in which England averaged 62 percent possession but failed to do a great deal useful with it.

Eric Dier's free kick in the 1-1 draw against Russia provided a moment of catharsis, and by scoring an early goal against Iceland it looked like they had got off to a perfect start against a team that would plan to defend tightly for most of the game -- if only they'd managed to hold on for longer than 34 seconds.

However, the clear highlight of England's tournament was Daniel Sturridge's late winner in the 2-1 victory against Wales, snaking his way into the penalty area and stabbing home to win the match and break through the stubborn Welsh resistance. "I'm grateful to the gaffer for allowing me to score and it's a beautiful feeling to represent your country in the rivalry against another great country," Sturridge said. "It's a brilliant feeling." If only it had lasted a little longer.

Low point

Far more choice here. If we're looking for a theme it's probably Hodgson's use of substitutes in every game except Wales: against Russia he looked to hold on too early rather than killing the game off; against Slovakia he simply reverted to Plan A when Plan B didn't work, bringing on the rested Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Dele Alli; while against Iceland he only gave Marcus Rashford five minutes to make any impression on the game.

Then there was the experiment of playing Rooney in midfield, one that simply looked like a manager trying to get a favourite player into the XI at the cost of its balance. Of course the main low point was the defeat to Iceland, a team that were solid and committed but very limited, and the real horror was that the minnows didn't even have to play that well to embarrass England.

Star man

Not too many players really enhanced their reputation at Euro 2016: far more provided more questions than answers, from Harry Kane's limp performances up front, Rooney showing that he's not an international midfielder and Joe Hart making a series of costly errors. Dele Alli didn't play as he has for Tottenham, while Raheem Sterling's confidence looks completely shot.

Still, this section was supposed to be about positive performances, wasn't it: the title of England's best player should be shared between two Spurs players, Danny Rose and Eric Dier. Neither excelled against Iceland, but in the previous three games they at least did their respective jobs with some competence; Rose in particular giving plenty of thrust down the left flank and Dier not giving any impression that he has only been a defensive midfielder for only a season. Two small positives to come from the tournament.

Lessons learned

There are lessons, but will they actually be learned? This tournament featured a more embarrassing denouement than previous efforts, but it still followed a familiar pattern: a collection of talented players who often excel for their clubs, playing as if the England shirt is made out of Kryptonite.

Perhaps for a true lesson England should look to Italy: Antonio Conte has fashioned a doughty, winning side from the weakest selection of players to represent the country at a major tournament in years. With them, everything is geared towards the team, the shape and the organisation, whether that means leaving better individuals out or not.

For England, it still seems to be about finding a way to get the best -- or favoured -- players in, even if they're out of position. Whoever replaces Hodgson must be brave enough to put the team first. But we've heard this plenty of times before.

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