Roy Hodgson quits after England team humiliated by minnows at Euro 2016
Nation famed for cod fishing left Three Lions England fans reeling
DISMAL England suffered a humiliating 2-1 defeat at the hands of soccer minnows Iceland last night.
A nation famed for cod fishing left England fans reeling — and sent Roy Hodgson’s multi-millionaire superstars packing from EURO 2016 in shame.
Blundering Hodgson — whose team limped into the knockout phase behind Wales — resigned straight after the match after overseeing the most humiliating defeat in the nation’s history.
Quitting after the pathetic performance, Hodgson said: “I am sorry it will have to end this way, but these things happen.”
In the stands, Wayne Rooney's six-year-old son Kai showed more passion than the entire England eleven put together as he watched his dad's team fall apart at the seams.
The national team's lion mascot was snapped being lobbed in the back of a lorry as the team prepares to travel home to face the music.
Within minutes the internet reacted with memes taking aim at the inept millionaire footballers and their useless gaffer.
Celebrity fans, including Rolling Stone's legend Mick Jagger, were in Nice to witness the woeful performance.
Heavy weight champ Tyson Fury stepped out of the stadium looking glum but did his best to cheer up fellow England fans with dance moves and high fives.
He even joked with victorious Iceland fans on the streets of Nice.
There was more misery after the final whistle for fans who had forked out thousands to cheer on the feckless players.
Transport strikes and demonstrations across France meant travel chaos and missed flights adding to the suffering.
England fan Grey Burn, 22, from Manchester said: "It means more misery for all of us.
“I’ve just heard it’s been cancelled, so have no idea when I’m going to get home.
“It’s hard to see how things can get worse.”
Trams and taxis refused to run in the city as fed up England fans left the stadium.
Frustration turned to violence in a Paris fan zone as a scrap broke out in the French capital.
Bookies have slashed the odds on England U-21 gaffer Gareth Southgate to become Hodgson's successor.
William Hill has him favourite at 6-4.
Outside bets include Glenn Hoddle, with odds dropping to 4-1 second-favourite Alan Shearer now 8-1, Eddie Howe 8-1 and Harry Redknapp, 10-1.
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England got off to a dream start when recalled under-fire winger Raheem Sterling won a penalty after being hauled down after just three minutes.
Skipper Wayne Rooney stepped up to slot home the spot-kick - and England fans started to dream of a stress-free evening.
However, just over a minute later Iceland were level.
Woeful defending of a long throw-in by Kyle Walker allowed Ragnar Sigurdsson to burst through unchallenged and smash home the equaliser.
England fans outnumbered their Icelandic rivals by four to one inside the 36,000-capacity Allianz Riviera in Nice.
But the Three Lions supporters were silenced by a footballing horror show in the 18th minute.
More sloppy defending let striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson fire off a hopeful 20-yard shot which goalkeeper Joe Hart could only palm timidly into his own net.
The goal sent stunned fans of the supposed no-hopers — population 330,000 — into dreamland.
Hodgson’s stunned stars continued to look shaky and were booed off at half-time by their fans.
The second half proved little better — with Iceland comfortably dealing with sporadic bursts of pressure from a clueless England.
Their heroes in blue could even have made it three, with Hart having to produce a couple of saves one-on-one.
Jack Wilshere, Jamie Vardy and, four minutes from the end, Man United teenager Marcus Rashford were all introduced by a desperate Hodgson but to no avail.
Hodgson’s failure follows a disastrous World Cup in Brazil two years ago, where England crashed out after just two games with one point.
The 68-year-old £3.5million-a-year team boss was the highest-paid coach at Euro 2016.
He earns more than ten times the wage of Iceland co-manager Heimir Hallgrimsson, a part-time dentist from the tiny fishing island of Heimaey.
Hallgrimsson said after the game, which sets them up for a quarter-final with France: “I was more relaxed than during the game against Austria. No obstacle is too big for these guys.”
Fans were left disgusted by England’s limp display. Ben Dryland, 40 from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, said: “I’ve been following England for ten years. Nothing ever changes.”
Julian Drake, 51, from Ware, Herts, said: “No one expected to Leicester to win the title so Iceland could go all the way.”
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