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Jagielka expresses England pain following second defeat in Brazil

'Everyone is absolutely devastated'

Phil Jagielka has described England's defeat to Uruguay in Sao Paulo last night as "gutting" and he expressed the pain from the dressing room saying that the players were "absolutely devastated" following what was their second successive loss in the tournament.

Everton's captain was the first member of the England party to face the music in front of the cameras after Luis Suarez's double had secured victory for Uruguay and pushed the Roy Hodgson's side to the brink of elimination from the 2014 World Cup finals.

"We played so well again in spells," Jagielka said, referencing the performance against Italy last Saturday which drew encouraging words from the media despite the fact that England lost.

"It didn't go our way with Steven [Gerrard] flicking the ball on, and you just hope that he [Suarez] mis-hits one, but he hit the target and they win the game."

The inquest — not to mention the predictable knives to the back from the media, not least the Daily Mail who published a despicable, error-strewn hatchet job on Jagielka's record against Suarez over the past season within minutes of the final whistle — into England's worst start to a World Cup has already begun and though they received little protection from the central midfielders or scoring support from the forward line, much of the focus is on the Three Lions defence which puts Jagielka and his partner Gary Cahill squarely in the firing line.

“We've not seen it again, but as a defender that's the last thing you want to see," Jagielka said. "A punt down the pitch, a flick-on and a goal. As you can tell by my voice, everyone is absolutely devastated."

Hodgson's men had been pegged back in the first half when Edinson Cavani was allowed too much space to loft a cross over Jagielka to the back post for Suarez to nod across Joe Hart and into the net.

After Ross Barkley's 63rd-minute introduction, Wayne Rooney's first World Cup goal had brought England level with 15 minutes to go in the second half, though, and the tide seemed to have turned decisively in their favour. They were caught out, however, when Gerrard inadvertently flicked the ball into the path of Suarez and his Liverpool teammate did the rest with just Hart to beat.

“We had them on the back foot," Jagielka continued. "I'm not sure what went on with Daniel Sturridge's penalty appeal, and we had a couple of chances, but obviously we just weren't able to get that second goal.

“It it is a similar story to the Italy game. We played pretty well but not good enough.”

England now need Italy to win both of their remaining matches, against Costa Rica and Uruguay, and to beat the Central American side 2-0 if they are to qualify for the second phase to face likely Group C winners, Colombia.

It's a tall order, one which Jagielka admits is "a small chance", and in all likelihood Jagielka, Baines and Barkley will be the first Everton players on a plane back to England from Brazil. Tim Howard's prospects of advancing with the USA won't be decided until the Americans' third game on 26th June, while Kevin Mirallas and Belgium are well placed to move on to the knockout stages.

Quotes sourced from TheFA.com

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