England manager Roy Hodgson has vowed to work hard to close the gap between the Three Lions and international football’s elite sides.

 

Hodgson watched his team crash out of Euro 2012 at the quarter-final stage last night as Italy put England to the sword on penalties.

 

And while the Azzurri got a slice of luck to win the shootout, Cesare Prandelli’s side were far superior to England throughout 120 minutes of football, enjoying a vast advantage over Hodgson’s men in both possession and goalscoring opportunities.

 

Hodgson though is not pessimistic over England’s future and is pledging to close the gap.

 

“I shall be working very hard to win matches and try to help the FA so that English football can progress”, said Hodgson in his final press conference in Poland before heading home.

 

“If we accept that Germany and Spain are better than us, then we have to narrow the gap.

 

“We have to be optimistic, believe, see the positives and ignore the fact we haven’t got further than the quarter-finals, but take a small degree of satisfaction that we gave it our best shot.”

 

England’s next game will be an international friendly against their quarter-final conquerors, Italy.

 

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