Coach at a loss after jinx strikes again

Roy Hodgson said he was at a loss to explain how England's penalty curse could be lifted after watching his side suffer the agony of a shoot-out defeat to Italy in Kiev on Sunday.

For the sixth time in seven attempts since the 1990 World Cup, England bowed out of a major tournament on penalties as Ashley Young and Ashley Cole missed from 12 yards to hand Italy a 4-2 shootout win.

Hodgson said he had been confident in England's five penalty-takers before the shootout had got under way at the Olympic Stadium.