ENGLAND’S PLAYERS appeared totally shell-shocked last night after being unceremoniously dumped out of the World Cup by Germany.

Most of Fabio Capello’s players refused to speak to the media in the aftermath of the nation’s heaviest defeat by the Germans and biggest-ever World Cup loss. Those who did struggled to explain what had gone wrong, with Joe Cole suggesting there were “a lot of issues” to address and David James claiming England had simply been beaten by a better team.

In theory, there should be no great disgrace in bowing out to the three-time world champions, yet the one-sided nature of the encounter angered England’s travelling supporters and left the players perplexed.

“I don’t know what to say,” a dejected Cole muttered repeatedly as his inquisitors demanded explanations. “We’ve got to put it right. I’m devastated, but what can you do? We’ll have to go away and start again. We have to address the problems. There are a lot of issues.”

The former Chelsea playmaker is one of a handful of high-profile England stars who were tipped to shine in South Africa. Unlike players such as John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney, Cole at least has an excuse for his minor contribution: he was used sparingly by Capello.

By the time the 28-year-old entered the fray in second half at the Free State Stadium, Germany were already in the ascendancy and quickly ended the contest with two more goals.

For the first hour, however, Cole could analyse the game from the bench and felt the Three Lions had succumbed to some traditional failings. “We just don’t seem to keep the ball as well as other nations,” he mused. “I don’t think that’s a secret, but I did notice it today. Sometimes we’re guilty of trying to get the ball forward too quickly as well.”

To his credit, Cole refused to use Frank Lampard’s shot that crossed the line without the being spotted by the officials as an excuse for the defeat. “Overall we just weren’t good enough,” said the midfielder, who is a free agent after his Chelsea contract ran out.

“We did everything we could but it wasn’t meant to be. We came up against a team that was better than us.”

James, one of the few players to emerge with some credit, agreed that Germany were superior, but was keen to stress that the failure to award Lampard’s would-be equaliser had been costly.

“We got beaten by a better team,” the Portsmouth goalkeeper conceded.

“Let’s not forget what happened in the first half, though. We went two down then got a goal back and were in the ascendancy.

“The second opportunity for Frank should have been a goal. That would’ve been 2-2 and it would’ve been a totally different game.”

Despite having conceded four goals and pulled off numerous saves, James was not especially impressed by Joachim Loew’s men and is tipping Argentina to beat them in the quarter-finals. “They’re a side that give the opposition opportunities,” the 39-year-old said.

“I know who I fancy to go through (between Germany and Argentina). They’re vulnerable at the back. Unfortunately we only scored two goals against them and only one of them counted.”

The inquest into England’s latest World Cup disappointment will soon commence. One of the issues to address will be Wayne Rooney’s muted form in South Africa despite arriving on the back of a brilliant season at Manchester United.

James denied the suggestion Rooney is unfit, saying: “I didn’t notice a lack of fitness. The trouble for Wayne is that the opposition expected him to be the danger man and they’ve done what they can to nullify his offensive capabilities.”

Capello’s credibility has also fallen in the eyes of some critics. When asked if he would resign, the Italian replied “absolutely not”, before hinting strongly that he would like to try to lead England to Euro 2012. “I want to speak with the (FA) chairman and then decide my future,” Capello said. “I need to know whether the FA have confidence in me or not.”

Cole, meanwhile, gave his backing to the former AC Milan boss, saying: “He’s a great manager. You can’t blame one person – we’re all in this together. We wanted to win the tournament, but we haven’t done that. We’ve let the manager, ourselves and the fans down.”