Former England manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson, has provided reasons the Three Lions crashed out the World Cup on Wednesday.
The former England boss said Gareth Southgate’s men lost 2-1 to Croatia because of mental weakness within the ranks.
England took the lead through Kieran Tripper’s 25-yard free-kick.
Croatia took full advantage, by equalising through Ivan Perisic before Mario Mandzukic scored the winner in extra-time.
After the game, Croatian defender, Dejan Lovren suggested that his side were mentally stronger in Moscow and Eriksson agrees.
“When they scored against Croatia, and for a long time after, it looked like England would win 1-0,” he told the Paddy Power blog.
“You couldn’t see Croatia scoring, they weren’t very good. Until then, I would’ve bet anything on England going to the final, but suddenly Croatia equalised and completely took over.
“It was like England died. They went totally down. That goal changed everything.
“It’s hard to know what happened to England after that. Were they tired? Were they nervous? Were they shocked? It was a different England from then. I think something happened in their heads.
“They looked worried, they were missing passes and things like that. That’s a mental thing, I suppose.
“England will never have a better chance to win the World Cup than this year. It was a golden opportunity – they didn’t have a difficult run.”
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