RIO DE JANEIRO: Greg Dyke, chairman of the Football Association, has said that Roy Hodgson will continue as national manager despite England having exited the World Cup finals earlier than on any previous occasion writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

The last time England failed to progress beyond the group stage was in 1958.

At least back then, in Sweden, England were knocked out only after a play-off against the Soviet Union. This time they fell short after only two games with the last one, against Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte, merely academic.

Dyke was answering questions about the future before England’s elimination was confirmed by Costa Rica’s surprise victory over Italy.

‘Supportive’

He said: “We are supportive of Roy. I already see people asking the question, ‘Will he stay?’ The answer is yes. He came to do a four-year cycle leading up to Euro 2016.”

Dyke acknowledged as “disappointing” England’s 2-1 defeats to both Italy and Uruguay but said there were “some positives”.

He added: “There are a lot of young players who got blooded here and got into tournament football.”

Last week, before the finals had begun, Dyke described himself as “a big fan of Roy”.

Hodgson, who is contracted through to the Euro 2016 finals in France, said after last night’s defeat by Uruguay that he had no intention of resigning.

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