England head home after shooting themselves in the foot, again

England's defeated footballers were arriving back home today after their heartbreaking defeat by Italy..

Steven Gerrard and his team were expected to touch down this afternoon after suffering the agony of being knocked out of a major tournament on penalties yet again. In the early hours of this morning the players flew back to their Krakow base from the Ukraine in a chartered jet. They immediately returned to their hotel and began packing for home.

The defeat was the sixth time England have fallen through penalty misses and manager Roy Hodgson lamented today that penalty shoot outs had become “an obession”.

The pain of exiting the championships was described by Wayne Rooney as “horrible”.

But wife Coleen had words of comfort and kisses for the team on Twitter. writing: “Well done England on giving it your All!!! Maybe next tournament!!!! Xxx.”

Gerrard, one of only two players to score from the penalty spot, said: “I think we’ve done the country proud but again we go home with heartbreak which is difficult to take.”

In London, hundreds of Italy fans packed bars and restaurants in Soho before pouring out onto Frith Street as the winning penalty went in.