Soccer
Hodgson baffled by SWC snub
2010-12-03 13:57
London - Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson admits he can't understand why Russia were awarded the 2018 World Cup when England had made such a strong bid to stage the tournament.
The English bid won only two votes from the 22-man Fifa executive committee in Thursday's ballot in Zurich and was eliminated in the first round of voting.
Despite receiving praise for the strength of their technical bid as well as their bid presentation, England's wait for a first World Cup since 1966 will now extend to well over half a century.
Hodgson's team would have hosted World Cup matches at their famous Anfield stadium and he is adamant the infrastructure already in place in English football would have made it a perfect World Cup host.
He said: "I am really disappointed. For me 1966 is such a long time ago and here in England we have so much going for us in terms of football.
"I think a World Cup (in England) would have been a rip-roaring success. We have the stadia, the passion of the fans and we have the quality of the infrastructure to accommodate people and get them from match to match.
"It seemed to be everything was crying out for England to be given to the World Cup and I was pretty confident when we started off that we would get it.
"Hearing it went to Russia and that we only got two votes is particularly disheartening."