IF THEY wrote the book or made the film, it would have been the scene entitled Goodbye, Sugar Loaf Mountain.
Roy Hodgson (right) and captain Steven Gerrard addressed the media yesterday[AP]There is an evocative ring about that, isn't there? Roy Hodgson spoke as resonantly here yesterday of his "raw" emotions and his need "to grieve". Only nobody will be writing the book or making the film of England's mournful story at the Brazilian World Cup. It wouldn't be long enough. There isn't enough material.
Tomorrow night, after they play Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte, the team will be in the air, home via Rio De Janeiro on a subdued night flight across the Atlantic, gone within 22 days of landing. They are the ghosts in white who flitted briefly through the big festival once again.
The early shutdown of the FA's training camp at these big tournaments has become a part of the dismal ritual of failure which surrounds the England side, although never in the modern era has it happened so rapidly.
Never before, either, has such a glorious setting been abandoned. The pitch at the Urca military base shimmered by the ocean beneath Rio's iconic landmark rock again yesterday, which was deceptive and tormenting because the mood was so bleak.
Meanwhile, inside the HQ, Hodgson was being forced to defend himself against a claim from his Swedish predecessor, Sven-Goran Eriksson, that a foreign coach would have been sacked after this kind of calamity. He had to explain why he feels he should carry on as manager.
"I see no reason to resign," Hodgson said, speaking publicly for the first time since Costa Rica's defeat of Italy on Friday confirmed England's elimination at the group stage of the World Cup for the first time since 1958.
"I feel allegiance to the players and the staff. We work well together. I accept this campaign has not been good. I'm grateful I've not been made that scapegoat and that people think I can take the team forward, and that's what I will be doing.
"I've not said that I'm the only coach out there, or that there won't be other people with opinions who think they're better candidates.
"But the bottom line is that there's no reason for me to have any serious doubts about the work I've done."
I had a bad night and a bad day following the defeat by Uruguay
There is little mood for a blood-letting. The public are as weary of them as they are of the under-achievements of their national team.
In that way Hodgson, his face yesterday colourless and bearing traces of shock, is dodging a bullet. Judged on results alone, as narrow as the defeats were against Italy and Uruguay, he would have been forced to resign. The FA, however, have backed him instantly.
There is an acceptance that, particularly against the Italians, England performed far more impressively than they did at the last World Cup.
This did not stop Eriksson from declaring: "I know for sure, if that had been me, I would have been sacked at once. If he were foreign, he would have been sacked."
Hodgson was insistent that his preparations were correct and that he had no regrets about the way he had approached the tournament.
"Sven's comments are interesting, but that's an opinion," Hodgson said.
"I don't think anyone has tried to shirk away from our responsibility. We've not blamed bad luck. We played two good teams. We believed we were good enough to beat them, but we weren't.
"So there's a lot for us to do, a gap to make up. Even though I believe we weren't particularly outplayed, the bottom line is that they scored goals and won the games and we didn't. That's something we need to work very hard on in the next two years.
"I didn't get the impression we were overrun in midfield in either game. Our attacking play is more potent than it was a year or so ago. But the teams we've played were more clinical, their finishing was better than ours."
Hodgson has overseen England training ahead of the Costa Rica clash [PA]The sun will burnish this HQ again today but England will not be back. It will stand as an empty testament to their failure.
"It is my worst moment in football," Hodgson added. "I had a bad night and a bad day following the defeat by Uruguay. My job leading the team is to pull myself out of that and make sure the players aren't suffering. But a period of grieving is necessary.
"I've had two defeats in European finals. That was pretty tough. And losing the job at Liverpool was tough. But this is England. A job that means so much to me and so many people. A massive job. So, yes, this is the worst."
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