STEVEN GERRARD admitted he had been brutally "punished" by Luis Suarez for the mistake that has left England on the brink of their quickest ever World Cup elimination.
Luis Suarez consoles Steven Gerrard after Uruguay beat England 2-1[GETTY]Suarez had scored in the first half of his comeback from knee surgery after Roy Hodgson's side afforded him too much room in the penalty area to dispatch a header.
Gerrard admitted the manner in which England conceded - and their failure to see the game out following Wayne Rooney's first World Cup goal on 75 minutes - was a harsh lesson.
"They were sloppy goals and we have to take responsibility for that as a team," he said. "The first one he's peeled off onto the back post, it's a fantastic ball by Cavani. We'll have to look at that and see what's what.
"The second one, I've gone to try and get good contact on the ball and I haven't good enough contact on it and I've been punished for it.
"It is frustrating. We never managed the game well enough when we got the equaliser.
"We can't give chances to Luis Suarez because he buries them from that position. It's a really tough moment for everyone in the dressing room but we need to be professional, keep fighting and pray for that scoreline to go for us.
"It was no surprise. Everyone in the dressing room knows Luis Suarez inside out. We know what he's about. He's had two chances in the game and he's taken them both really well. That just goes to show.
"He hasn't played for five weeks and yet he comes back and is still as deadly as ever."
Luis Suarez scores Uruguay's second [STUART ROBINSON]We can't give chances to Luis Suarez because he buries them from that position.
England will be eliminated after just two matches if Italy and Costa Rica draw today.
Gerrard, who won his 113th cap here, said before the tournament he would consider whether to retire when England's fate became clear and he could now have to make that decision sooner than expected.
"It's not the moment now," he said. "But as I said before the tournament I'll be respectful to you guys so let's see what happens over the next four or five days and we'll talk again.
"I need to park that hurt and the feeling I have got and see what happens over the next four or five days, but if you go out in the group stage it will be a very personal low for myself and the team and I am sure everyone will feel very similar.
"Looking at the two games and how we have performed, we sort of deserve something out of either one of them if not both of them.
"I don't think I am standing here saying we were poor in both games and our gameplan was wrong. I just thought when we got the equaliser today we just needed to be a bit more clever, a bit more cute and a bit more difficult to beat.
"Maybe accept that going for a point might have been the best option. But they were weak at the back and they were there for the taking. Once we got the equaliser we tried to use the initiative to get the second.
"It is a big learning curve. This level is such a cruel level. You can't give world class players chances - that's one thing - and when you are still in the game you need to be more difficult to beat and that was the disappointing thing for me.
"At 1-1 as a team we sort of went for the second goal and maybe we should have been more experienced and gone for the draw."
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