体坛英语新闻：Hodgson disappointed not to finish with victory

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil, June 24 (Xinhua) -- England manager Roy Hodgson showed his disappointment here Tuesday when the Three Lions were held to a 0-0 draw by Costa Rica in the last round of World Cup Group D.

England, which had already been eliminated from the Group of Death which also includes Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica, hoped to get three consolation points before packing for home.

"Apart from the first 10 or 12 minutes of the game I thought we dominated it totally. Unfortunately we didn't take our goal chances today. Had we taken them it would have been a comfortable victory," Hodgson told the post-match press conference.

In their last match of the group stage, Hodgson made nine changes for England's starting line-up, but Costa Rica fielded a strong starting 11, hoping to win the group.

Hodgson said, "We showed today what a good team we can be. We are so disappointed not to finish with a victory."

England striker Daniel Sturridge missed three good chances in the game.

Hodgson said, "Normally Daniel is so clinical. I am not that concerned. I know he will take the goal chances in the future. The important thing is to keep giving him the opportunity."

He said, "I thought the whole back four was absolutely excellent. We restricted a team that has beaten Italy and Uruguay and topped the group, we restricted them to almost no chances.

"Ben Foster was very good behind and in midfield I thought we dominated it, we outplayed them in that area. We created goal chances. The only thing we didn't do is take them and that's a great disappointment."

All Group D matches concluded on Tuesday. Costa Rica stunned the world to top the group with seven points, beating Uruguay 3-1, edging Italy 1-0 before earning the goalless draw with England. Uruguay defeated England 2-0, downed Italy 1-0 to finish second with six points.