Lions lose on penalties

England have been knocked out of the World Cup in a heartbreaking penalty shoot out against Portugal in the quarter-finals.

On a night of tears and drama, the Three Lions showed remarkable character against the odds to force extra time after having Wayne Rooney sent off and captain David Beckham injured.

But they were left distraught on the pitch at the Auf Schalke Arena after losing the shoot-out 3-1.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo scored the all-important kick after Frank Lampard, Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard had all missed.

Some of the England players could not hide their emotions as they sat in tears in the centre circle at the end of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s last match in charge of the national side.

The scenes were eerily similar to two years earlier in Lisbon when England fell to the same team, at the same stage and in the same manner.

And they will go home with the same sense of wasted opportunity after a match which could have gone either way were it not for fate refusing to smile on England.

Put the Three Lions and major tournaments together and the end result is the kind of drama no writer of fiction could ever dream up. And so it was in Gelsenkirchen.

Rooney was sent off and Beckham went off injured but England kept on battling and showed remarkable character against the odds.

They ended the match after 90 minutes still level at 0-0, gave their all in extra time and survived a shot over the bar from Maniche in the very last second to reach a shoot-out. But the penalties once again proved too much for them.

Incredibly the first half was largely devoid of action, with Frank Lampard’s 20-yard effort following a neat Joe Cole pass England’s best opportunity.

That shot was smartly saved but the action certainly hotted up after the break as Lady Luck once again deserted the Three Lions.

They were denied a penalty when Nuno Valente handled a Beckham cross - and the captain went off with an ankle injury after 52 minutes.

With Becks sitting distraught on the bench there was worst to come when young Rooney was handed a red card for a 62nd minute challenge on Ricardo Carvalho.

Eriksson responded by taking off Joe Cole and bringing on Peter Crouch for the final 25 minutes. But perhaps most frustrating was that Rooney’s red card came just as England were taking control.

After Beckham went off, replaced by Tottenham flyer Aaron Lennon, Gary Neville took over the armband and the Three Lions burst into life.

In fact they almost scored immediately when a deep corner fell to Frank Lampard unmarked at the far post, but he fired his effort over the bar.

There was an even closer call in the 58th minute when Lennon embarked on a wonderful run down the right and cut inside the penalty area.

His cut-back found Rooney, who missed his kick, and then Joe Cole clattered an effort over the bar when he seemed certain to score.

Sven went for a five-man midfield in this match, anchored by Owen Hargreaves, and it was the Bayern Munich man’s tenacious tackling that was one of the highlights of the night. In fact his name was sung with gusto by the England supporters.

Portugal’s best chance of the first half came when Luis Figo sprayed a wonderful ball from the right wing to the left, where Ronaldo was lurking in the 19th minute.

The winger had only his Manchester United colleague Gary Neville to beat but fired his effort high over the bar.

England knew they had to do more and their determination to step up a gear continued even when they went down to 10 men.

Robinson made a fine save from a Figo effort and the outstanding Rio Ferdinand produced a thunderous goal-saving tackle on Maniche after that.

But the Three Lions went mighty close themselves after 82 minutes when Lampard’s free-kick was well saved and Lennon’s follow-up also smothered.

Then John Terry squirmed a shot over the bar after a wonderful run and low cross from the impressive Hargreaves in the 90th minute.

In extra time England fans, who made up four-fifths of the 52,000 sell-out crowd, roared their encouragement. But in the shoot-out there were was nothing but heartache.

Simao put Portugal 1-0 up, Lampard’s effort was saved and Viana hit the post. Hargreaves gave England hope by making it 1-1 and then Petit missed.

But Gerrard saw his effort saved and after Postiga hit the net the knife was well and truly turned.

Jamie Carragher scored a faultless penalty but was asked to take it again - and this time keeper Ricardo saved it.

To England’s horror Ronaldo then scored to wrap up victory for the Portuguese. It was hard to swallow and England will go home with a huge amount of disappointment in their hearts.

At least they know they battled to end, but no doubt the inquests will last long beyond this weekend.

You have to believe that one day our time will come - but sadly it won’t be in Germany.