Mark Noble and James Milner were left gutted after England U21s' 4-0 Euro final defeat to Germany.
Noble and Milner devastated after Euro final defeat to Germany
Mark Noble and James Milner were left gutted after England Under 21s' disappointing 4-0 defeat to Germany in the European Championship final in Sweden.
The Young Lions started well before going behind to Gonzalo Castro's 23th minute opener.
England keeper Scott Loach then misjudged a Mesut Ozil free-kick three minutes after the re-start to gift Germany a second before Sandro Wagner scored a late brace to seal the win.
Captain Noble told
Sky Sports post-match that this defeat was worse then going out to Holland on penalties in the semi-finals of the 2007 tournament.
"As much as we lost in 2007 it was on a high sort of thing - it was a little bit unlucky on the penalties - but today we come here, we thought we could go in, play as well as we can do and win the game and obviously that didn't happen.
Terribly gutted
"So we are all terribly gutted and (I) just cross my fingers now for the good set of lads in there, the younger lads that can hopefully go one step further than us now and win it."
He added it was "one of the worst things" he had ever done having to watch the Germans lift the trophy.
"I didn't really watch half of it, I couldn't, it was too much to watch - I wanted that to be us up there and not them but at the end of the day we lost the game and they picked up the trophy."
When asked what went wrong, he did not know, believing the side had started well but then had a set-back with the first goal.
"Obviously we are just gutted for us, our families and England as well - we thought we would be bringing home a trophy and we're not."
Top squad
Milner, who was playing for the 46th and final time for the U21s in the defeat, believed England had missed the suspended Gabriel Agbonlahor, Frazier Campbell and Joe Hart, but added they had a top quality squad.
"Obviously the three players that were missing, any team in this tournament would miss them but we've got more than adequate cover for them.
"Like I say it's a top quality squad. I think the way we qualified for the tournament, the way we've played in the tournament we have shown what a good team we are and I think on another day it's different, but it's all about the big games and today we didn't perform and there's no excuses for that."
He added everyone in the dressing room was hurting.
"Obviously losing is bad enough but the way we lost as well it's not good enough in a final - no one could explain it. The lads are disappointed and it's about what you take away from this experience.
"I think we're the best team in this competition but you've got to prove it and we didn't.
"And that's fair play to Germany - they put in the performance and they know how to win the big games and today we didn't."
