Expected too much of Rooney: Hodgson

Hodgson invested a huge amount of faith in Rooney.

He never wavered in his belief the 26-year-old would be a key figure in his plans, even though Rooney was condemned to miss the first two group games through suspension. Hodgson even gave Rooney additional time off prior to the tournament in order to recover from a minor injury he was carrying.

Hodgson said: "We put a lot of expectations on him. When he missed the first two games we were all believing that what we needed to do was get to the third game and Rooney will win us the championships. That maybe was too much to ask of him."