'Rubbish' the verdict after fans see toothless Three Lions brushed aside

It may have been a long way from the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein but England's hopeless World Cup defeat to the Germans was felt keenly at home.

Millions tuned in for the game but saw their team exit the tournament after turning in the latest in a string of poor performances.

In Leeds, a festival atmosphere soon turned to familiar despondency as up to 8,000 fans packed into the city's baking Millennium Square to watch the match on a big screen.

It was like a giant party before the kick-off, with hundreds screaming along to the Three Lions and Vindaloo anthems and bouncing giant beach balls around the crowd.

But, halfway through the second half, the gloom which had descended on the mass of painted faces and St George's flags turned to resigned dejection. Around a third of the crowd had left by the time the referee brought the game to an end.

A couple of drunken fans were ejected by stewards, but there were no problems in the square for the waiting mounted police.

By the end of the match the atmosphere was more glum than violent. As stewards began clearing the carpet of plastic beer glasses, clusters of fans huddled together among the debris, consoling each other.

Amy Marshall, 19, from Leeds, said: "I just thought we were rubbish. I'm going to try and forget about the World Cup now. I think they've let us down."

The absence of a big screen in Bradford meant the normally quiet Sunday morning trains between the two cities were far busier than usual as boisterous fans headed into Leeds.

Distraught England fans leaving the stadium vented their frustrations, saying that despite the hype England just were not good enough to progress into the quarter finals.

Darren Garner, 26, a digger driver from Peterborough, said: "They just don't seem to have the heart. We're supposed to be Three Lions. We looked old and useless. They looked young and fresh."

His friend, Damien Masham, 26, a window cleaner, from Peterborough, said: "I'm absolutely devastated. They perform at club level but when it comes to internationals they look like a Sunday league side.

"We paid a lot of money to come here. You just start to wonder if it's worth it."

One psychologist last night reassured any football fans struggling with the disappointment. Professor Mark Griffiths, from Nottingham Trent University, said any depression would be short-lived and recommended taking consolation in the fact that the English were performing well in other sports.