Wayne Rooney was gutted by the manner of England's exit but said his team "could leave with their heads held high" after Italy beat them in the penalty shootout in the quarterfinals of Euro 2012.
Missed spot-kicks from Ashley Young and Ashley Cole, helped Italy get past England 4-2 in the shootout after the match ended 0-0 after extra-time. Italy will now face Germany in the semi-finals.
"It was a horrible way to go out," Rooney said. "We are all gutted. It was a tough game.
"We all worked hard, so to lose on penalties is a horrible feeling for everyone. But we can hold our heads up high. There are a lot of young players in the squad and that will help them in the next tournament."
England manager Roy Hodgson also felt his team had done everybody proud with their displays in the tournament. "I've been delighted with the players, and the way they've responded to the demands of an England shirt.
"They're bitterly disappointed they couldn't take it one step further, but they've shown they're capable of stepping up to the plate. We've got good young players coming through and this has been important for them.
"At the end we had lots players out there running on empty with very tired legs, fighting off cramp, but they kept us in there until the end and when you go to penalties you do have a chance, but unfortunately Italy took the chance and not us.
"Anyone can miss one. A player's reputation should not be forged on a penalty shootout. We've watched players taking penalties in training, and they'd done extremely well. But you can't reproduce the tension, the occasion, the nervousness.
"That sort of cool, calculated way that Pirlo had the confidence to chip the goalkeeper ... you either have that as a player or you don't, and no amount of coaching or training will help reproduce that. We've seen Ashley Cole convert in a Champions League final, and Ashley Young at club level.
"But we stuck to our guns right until the end and the players should be very proud of what they did.
"I have learnt a lot about them and their determination and dedication to the task. There were some heroic performances, not only tonight but also in the previous three games."
England captain Steven Gerrard rued the fact that lady luck did not go England's way. "Everyone's been great in training, every time we've come out I think we've done the country proud, but again we're going home with heartbreak, which is difficult to take," he told the BBC.
"I just feel for the players who from day one have given everything and today we did the same. This time in the penalty shoot-out we thought we might have the bit of luck we needed but it wasn't to be.
"Credit to Italy they are a fantastic team and they got the luck in the shoot-out."
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli commended his team's performance. "All the forwards did a very good job tonight. It was difficult to create chances but we put our heart in it.
"We had ideas, we wanted to play in nice little triangles, keep the ball high up on the pitch.
"We tried to play football, we tried to bring them out of their defence but they did not want to.
"It could have been more spectacular had we scored inside the 90 minutes."
"This evening we played with heart, character and ideas against a difficult side. I also want to underline the spirit we showed."
Prandelli admitted Germany would be the favorites for the semi-final on Thursday. "Are Germany favorites for the semi-final? Absolutely yes, but now let's celebrate this win and then we will think about the semi-final."
