(1 Jul 1998) English/Nat
The England football squad has gone home to face the music after the Argentinian defeat which cut short their country's dreams of winning the World Cup.
Among them was David Beckham, the player who was sent off for kicking an Argentinian player and forced his team to play the second half one man down.
Coach Glenn Hoddle appealed to soccer fans not make Beckham a scapegoat for England's early exit from the tournament.
And the British prime minister Tony Blair said that despite losing, the squad had made fans proud.
England's football heroes returned to London from on Wednesday evening after they were knocked out of the World Cup by Argentina.
Their Concorde taxied along the airport with the St George flag flying from the cockpit window.
Among the first off the plane was David Beckham, the midfielder who was sent off during Tuesday's match for kicking an Argentinian player.
Twenty-three-year-old Beckham has been roundly criticised by fellow players and fans, and issued an apology for his behaviour, saying he was deeply sorry.
But England manager, Glenn Hoddle appealed to both fans and to the press not to make Beckham a scapegoat for their disappointment at England's early return home.
However, his words may have come too late.
One England fan who was at Heathrow to welcome back the national soccer team brought along a cardboard cutout of Beckham's girlfriend, Posh Spice.
Beckham has had to face taunts about the relationship from supporters while playing for Manchester United, the team he is signed to in the U-K.
And while English newspapers were full of praise for the bravery of the England squad - who battled for over an hour with just 10 men against Argentina's 11 - there were some bitter comments about Beckham
One of the first to praise the team for its performance in France was British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I think we all feel tremendous pride at the way the England team played, particularly after going down to 10 men, that was an extraordinary effort. I think that perhaps the greater sense of disappointment is that people really felt that we had an England team that could have gone all the way."
SUPER CAPTION: Tony Blair, British Prime Minister
He put the defeat down to bad luck, though he hinted that he, too, was disappointed at Beckham's behaviour.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"You can go over all these things. I mean, the truth is we had a mountain of courage and a molehill of luck, unfortunately. And of course, there were certain things that should not have happened."
SUPER CAPTION: Tony Blair, British Prime Minister
England fans were devastated by the loss to Argentina in a penalty shootout.
But in London, fans who filled Trafalgar Square on Tuesday night were in high spirits despite the disaster.
Police said there were some minor scuffles in the hours after the match, but there were no reports of serious violence of the like seen in France over the past weeks.
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