England bid organisers left dejected by 2018 World Cup failure

LONDON - The organisers of England’s failed bid to stage the FIFA World Cup in 2018 were left angry and gutted Thursday with the overriding feeling being that “sometimes the best team doesn’t necessarily win”.

FIFA’s 22-man executive committee voted for Russia to host the competition, with England going out at the first stage, despite their final presentation labelled as “remarkable and excellent” by FIFA president Joseph Blatter.

Speeches by Prime Minister David Cameron, former England captain David Beckham and Prince William were all well received but ultimately in vain, leaving those there wondering whether the country will ever stage a World Cup in their lifetime.

“It was always going to be difficult,” said David Dein, part of England’s bid. “I just really feel for all the fans because now it will be 2030 before the World Cup comes back to Europe.”

“I don’t know exactly how (the voting) worked but I can only say sometimes in life, the best team doesn’t necessarily win.”

Beckham, whose efforts were praised by everyone present in Zurich, described the events as “very disappointing”.

“It was hard not to come away with the World Cup in 2018,” he said.

“A lot of hard work has been done by a lot of people. It would have been great to bring the World Cup to our country because we haven’t had it for years.”

Cameron said England could not have done any more to win the vote.

“It’s bitterly disappointing,” he said. “According to FIFA, we had the best technical bid and the best commercial bid and we’re passionate about football, but it turns out that wasn’t enough.”

“It’s desperately sad. We haven’t had a World Cup in my lifetime. I was hoping we could change that, but not this time.”

Another former England captain, Alan Shearer, found it hard to hide his feelings.

“It is hard to swallow right now,” he said. “The way our presentation went this morning with the guys who got up and spoke - they were absolutely magnificent. You have to think that if we couldn’t get it this time, when are we going to get it?”