British media mourn England exit on penalties

LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) Britain's media plunged into deep mourning after England were knocked out of the World Cup in a penalty shootout by Portugal.

Wayne Rooney was back on all the front pages with most of today's newspapers carrying photos of the striker being sent off in the fateful 62nd minute.

"End of the World", blared the Sunday Express, adding "England crack up and go out on penalties".

The Observer, on its front page, declared: "The End: England pay the penalty after Rooney sees red." The News of the World devoted its first seven pages to the defeat under the headline "Tears and a Clown".

The editorial on page eight praised the players for fighting like lions and bemoaned the leadership off the pitch instead, saying: "For five years the FA have allowed Sven-Goran Eriksson to blunder from one disaster to another".

"Rooney sees red and then England crumble," said The Sunday Times front page which began with the words: "Oh no, not again." The Sunday Express managed to link Rooney's sending off by Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo to Maradona's Hand of God goal and David Beckham's sending off at France '98.

The paper lumped them together in what it described as "bad refereeing decisions -- all involving Argentinians".

But The Observer, awarding Rooney only three marks out of 10 for his overall performance, said Elizondo had no choice other than to send the striker off if he had seen Rooney dig his boot into the "nether region" of opponent Ricardo Carvalho.

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