England blasted as “catastrophic” and “stupid” by European press keen on Brexit jokes following Iceland loss
England's players were likely relieved to have been out of the country yesterday and away from the English media's glare following their humiliation at the hands of Iceland.
Not that the press in France or anywhere else were any less scathing of a dismal performance which saw England booted out of the European Championships by the smallest nation every to qualify for the competition playing in their first major tournament knock-out game.
France, L'Equipe
France's sports daily L'Equipe, which ran the one-word "Awesome" headline in praise of Iceland, let rip on the England players in their notoriously harsh ratings. No player was adjudged above 5/10 while Harry Kane, Gary Cahill and Joe Hart were all assigned a joint-worst 3/10 score.
Yet it was Wayne Rooney who was singled out in the match report. England were said to be "captained by the grandfather of Wayne Rooney" whose technical skills in the second-half were blasted as "catastrophic".
"You can't help thinking they underestimated their opponents," read the piece, "And more generally the difficulty of the competition."
Read more: Could Brexit help the England football team avoid future Iceland humiliations
Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport
"Fairytale Iceland, Brexit England" ran the headline on the front page in Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport, which was understandably dominated by coverage of Italy's impressive 2-0 win over Spain.
"Here it is, the single biggest flop of the the French tournament", read the analysis inside. "England's Rooney and Kane, Alli and Vardy go home after four games."
Germany, Bild
In what was a common theme for Europe's papers, Germany's Bild dubbed the result as "Brexit 2". "Next…out for England" said the tabloid. "A Bitter 2-1 defeat to Iceland. The outsider surprisingly reaches the quarterfinal against hosts France. It is startling how stupidly England acted. Wayne Rooney converted from the sport after only four minutes. A lead that should really give you security."
Iceland, Morgunbladid
Iceland's Morgunbladid spent less time chastising England's flops and paid more attention to their country's historic win.
"A Masterpiece. Yes, a true masterpiece," the paper understandably gushed. "The Icelandic national football team came, saw and conquered England.
"Iceland are among the best footballing nations in Europe. That is clear after this historic victory over England in Nice. Hosts France will be the next opponents for Iceland in Paris on Sunday and I think a lot of Frenchmen are beginning to tremble with fear."
Spain, Marca
"Iceland ridicule England," said Spanish sporting daily Marca, ""England never found solutions and were inferior to their opponents."
Ireland, The Irish Times
The Irish Times stuck the boot into Joe Hart, featuring the under-fire England keeper on their front page next to the headline "Broken Harted England crash out of Euro 2016".
"Iceland played with courage, skill and togetherness," said the report "England, in stark contrast, dramatically lost their way once their lead had been wiped out."
Portugal, Diario de Noticias
Portugal's Diario de Noticias summed up a tumultuous week for England with the simple: "Out of the Euro. Second Brexit in four days. Iceland win and sends England out of Europe."