Why England lost to Italy – talkSPORT Opinion
England have never beaten a World Cup-winning nation in a knockout match at a major tournament away from Wembley.
England have reached as many World Cup semi-finals on foreign soil (one) as Croatia, Bulgaria, Belgium, USA, Poland and Turkey, and less than Sweden (three), Portugal (two), Uruguay (three), Austria (two), Hungary (two) and the former Czechoslovakia (two).
England have made the last four of the Euros abroad as many times as Greece, Belgium and Turkey, and less than Hungary (twice), Denmark (three times), the former Yugoslavia (twice) and Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic (five times).
The team England were hoping to face in the Euro 2012 semi-finals, Germany, have reached the last four of a major tournament on foreign soil 17 times compared to England's two (the 1968 Euros and 1990 World Cup).
The team that beat them, Italy, have won four World Cups, one European Championship and reached three further finals, while England have that one World Cup win on home soil in 1966.
Why list these statistics? Because it is overwhelming proof that the reason England failed to reach the last four of Euro 2012 is about the bigger picture, not merely the details of one match in Kiev.
Inevitably, people are starting to look for reasons why England were so thoroughly outclassed by the Italians.
Individual players' performances are being discussed, Roy Hodgson's tactics are being debated, a penalty jinx is being blamed.
Some of these factors may have influenced the result, but this is not simply about one match and one performance. Decades of history have proved categorically that England are not at the top table of European and world football and it didn't need a penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy to prove that.
In the past the blame has been laid squarely at the manager's door, but from Roy Hodgson to Walter Winterbottom, via Italian and Swedish coaches for good measure, in 62 years of trying England have been inferior to the very best, away from the comforts of Wembley (and on a good few occasions at home, too). A good manager is important, but he can only work with the tools he's given.
In addition, a range of feeble excuses have been mined to explain England's failure to beat the best, from the type of training camp (polar extremes at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups both ending with the same disappointment) to the weather (too hot, until a South African winter disproved that theory) and often, laughably, a lack of passion and effort (the one thing England can rarely be accused of lacking).
The blame has also been placed on inferior technique, but England has produced players with great skill over the years, from Sir Bobby Charlton to Wayne Rooney.
Current players like Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole all possess a fine touch, while the absent Jack Wilshere has outstanding ability. England produce players with good individual skill, but still the results do not follow.
Anyone who has watched England's travails over the years, however, would realise that the national team struggle in one very important aspect of the game: possession of the ball.
Not just against the cream of world football, like Spain, Brazil and Italy, but also against teams like Switzerland and Ukraine. England don't seem capable of retaining the ball and this, as results have proved, causes big problems in big games.
It's no good blaming Roy Hodgson or even the players, because this is not something that can be changed overnight.
English football culture, from the grass roots of youth football to the fans that flock through the turnstiles, does not promote a style of play that encourages good possession.
talkSPORT's very own Stan Collymore was, by way of an example, inundated with tweets on Saturday night from English football fans complaining that world and European champions Spain were boring against the French, despite the Spaniards dismantling a team that barely gave England a kick.
It is within this kind of culture that our elite players have not learned how to comfortably keep the ball as a team and by the time they are playing international football it is too late to catch up with the opposition.
From an early age, the players that make up the England team have had a style of play ingrained in them that promotes poor possession of the football and is inferior to the methods learned by the world's best football-playing nations. The result can be seen in the statistics quoted at the start of this article.
Under these circumstances, Roy Hodgson and his team have attempted to make up for their inferior possession by using tactical discipline and sheer hard work to get results. With a dash of good fortune, it very nearly worked against Italy, but despite giving their best it wasn't enough.
England still managed to reach the last eight of arguably world football's toughest international tournament, which proves the Three Lions are a good team.
The trouble is that a country with the football history and status of England will rightly aspire to more than that.
Until English football culture from bottom-to-top embraces play that prizes good possession of the football, however, England will never again be the best.
Why do you think England have failed to reach the latter stages of major tournaments on so many occasions? Let us know by commenting below…