Thaindian News

Kiev (Ukraine), June 25 (IANS) England star Joleon Lescott feels that there is nothing to be ashamed of after the country suffered a penalty shootout debacle in the quarter-final of the Euro 2012 against Italy.

England were dumped out of the Euro 2-4 on spot-kicks after a goalless 120 minutes of action against Italy here Sunday night.

“A lot was made before the tournament about how far we could get and in every performance we have shown pride and passion. That is what the England fans wanted to see. Is the quarter-finals the level England are at? Definitely not,” the Manchester City star was quoted as saying by The Sun.

“We were confident coming into the competition, with the players we’ve got in the team. They are at the top of their game and some of them are the best in the world in their position.”

“I think a quarter-final is the least of our expectations and progression has been made from the last tournament. It is disappointing to be going home but, as soon as we’ve licked our wounds, we can look back and feel we’ve made the nation proud,” he said.

England were also knocked out of the 1990, 1998 and 2006 World Cups on penalties and suffered a similar fate in the 1996 and 2004 Euros.

The 29-year-old Lescott said England never want to be left in that position ever again.

“Everyone is disappointed with the way it happened. The penalty shootout was nerve-wracking and a lot of credit goes to the boys who stepped up and put their name forward to take a penalty. It’s one of those things we need to get past - and it’s probably more mental than anything else. You have to blank things out to go through in a penalty shootout,” he said.