World Cup Group D Costa Rica 0-0 England England exit the World Cup at the group stage but at least do not go home pointless after a scoreless draw with Costa Rica.
Roy Hodgson made nine changes to the Three Lions team after two successive defeats in order to give youth its chance and as a pointer for the future.
And for most of the opening 45 minutes they looked like a team who were not used to playing together, clearly a work in progress.
Daniel Sturridge had the best chances to earn a morale boosting victory but three times he missed the target and once looked to have been fouled inside the six yard box as he shaped to shoot.
Too many promising opportunities were ruined by poor final pass selection or simply a failure to control the ball. Yet at least they looked livelier and caused their modest opponents problems. On the minus side they still gave the ball away cheaply and their defence struggled at times with Costa Rica's direct running.
Costa Rica were the surprise package of Group D but even so more challenging teams need to be defeated before England can hope to trouble the top side's of the world.
One positive was the performance of keeper Ben Foster who kept England in the game with a marvellous palm onto the cross bar from a Keylor Navas free kick in the first half.
The West Brom custodian made a couple of smart saves, but with Costa Rica already assured of qualification the England defence was rarely tested, it's just when it was familiar faults were still in evidence.
This has been miserable World Cup campaign for Roy Hodgson and his players but whilst they avoided three successive defeats there was little on display here to suggest a new 'Golden Generation' had been unearthed.
