England football team arrive home weary and humiliated

The England team arrived back on British soil under a cloud on Tuesday morning after their humiliating exit from the World Cup.

The players, who appeared tired and weary, arrived back at Heathrow Airport at 6.20am on a Virgin flight which had been specially chartered by the Football Association.

As they arrived home after the 11-hour flight the players, many of whom were dressed in official England team suits, could barely smile as they walked across the tarmac to waiting cars.


There were glum faces and few smiles as David Beckham led the team off the plane, with Jamie Carragher and Michael Carrick just behind him. Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard barely smiled.

An entourage of players' wives, girlfriends and children also followed them onto the tarmac.


Others including Christine Bleakley, 31, the girlfriend of England midfielder Frank Lampard, Joe Cole’s wife 26-year-old wife Carly Zucker and Toni Poole, 28, wife of former England captain John Terry left South Africa on a separate flight.


The players are not expected to have an official reception.

On board the Airbus aircraft the players travelled in Upper Class, Virgin’s equivalent of First Class, while FA officials travelled in Premium Economy and the economy section was empty.

This is in contrast to the French national team who were made to fly home in economy following their woeful showing in the tournament.

Earlier, in stark contrast to the fanfare of their arrival, the team had earlier slipped out of South Africa with barely a murmur.

While the weather in the UK is scorching, the players can expect a frosty reception from fans disappointed at their poor showing in the World Cup.

Before the flight the team arrived at O R Tambo Airport in Johannesburg on a coach bearing the slogan Playing With Pride and Glory, looking downhearted and sombre.

The players led by under fire coach Fabio Capello were driven into a specially designated part of the airport bypassing the public departures lounge and security.

There they were ushered through a security scanner and private passport control before heading to a secluded part of the airfield to board the plane.

There were no fans present and the players did not speak to waiting journalists.

The team were knocked out by their old footballing foe Germany after slumping to a 4 – 1 defeat in Bloemfontein.

It was England’s heaviest ever defeat in the World Cup finals and capped a miserable tournament in which they only scored three goals and won only once.

Ellie Darby the partner of England defender Mathew Upson’s and Glen Johnson’s wife Laura joined them as they arrived at O R Tambo airport in a minibus.

They travelled down from Rustenburg where the players have been based during their stay in South Africa arriving at the airport around half an hour earlier.

While England were soundly beaten by the Germans, the defeat was overshadowed by a perfectly good goal by Lampard which was not given.

The first half shot by the midfielder cannoned down off the crossbar and clearly crossed the line but was not awarded by the Uruguayan official.

Asked what she thought of the decision, which denied her boyfriend a World Cup goal and England, a potentially crucial equaliser, Miss Bleakley smiled but refused to comment.

She would also give no hint as to the mood in the England camp.

On Monday, the Italian manager claimed he wanted to stay at the helm despite the team's thrashing by the Germans.

But the Italian must wait two weeks to learn his fate.

Capello told reporters at a press conference in South Africa: "I spoke this morning with (Club England chairman) Sir Dave Richards and he told me that he needs two weeks to decide."

Asked whether he would like to stay in his role, the Italian said: "Absolutely. I said I can be the manager of England for the next season, but it is for him (Richards) to decide.

"We spoke also about the players that can play for the next qualification and I know what I have to do."

Asked about the performance of his players, Capello said they were tired after their hectic Premier League season.

And he pointed to Frank Lampard's disallowed second goal, suggesting the outcome of Sunday's game might have been different if the referee had got the decision right.

It is not only the England team that will be arriving home today.

Thousands of disgruntled fans will return in the coming days following a shorter than expected South African trip.

At the airport in Bloemfontein, fans were rearranging flights and some were trying to sell off their tickets for the quarter and semi-finals.

Barry Pringle, 51, an administrator from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, said: "We just want to get back to England as soon as possible now.

"I thought we was robbed again, as normal.

"They definitely need to bring in video technology."

But James Richardson, 28, a mechanical engineer from Chelmsford, Essex, said: "The Germans deserved it. They took their chances and we didn't. We never look like a team, we are always individuals."

But asked if manager Capello deserved to go, he said: "Who else is going to do it? I would stick with him."

The Uruguayan referee blamed for the "goal that never was" smiled but offered no comment when a plucky Fifa volunteer asked if he knew Lampard's shot crossed the line.

Jorge Larrionda and his assistant Mauricio Espinosa failed to spot that the midfielder's shot crossed the line after crashing off the underside of the crossbar.

Unnoticed by England fans, the match officials passed through the airport in Bloemfontein yesterday where a young Fifa volunteer, who normally welcomes fans to the airport, asked if he knew the goal should have been allowed.

Charlotte Molakeng, 22, from Kroonstad, said: "I just asked if he knew there was a goal.

"But I got no comment, just a smile."







(source: Telegraph.co.uk, photo/The Sun)