Desperate England can't even beat the Great British Bake Off

After an awful World Cup it's a dismal return to action for Roy Hodgson's men

England's Calum Chambers and Norway's Stefan Johansen
(Image credit: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images)

England 1 Norway 0. Desperate. Not just the 40,181 attendance – the lowest for a Wembley international since 1998 – but the quality of the football on show. It almost made one pine for those heady June days when England ground out a goalless draw against Costa Rica in the World Cup. At least then the sun was shining.

In north-west London last night the atmosphere was gloomier than a Roy Hodgson press conference with the fans so subdued you could hear the players shouting instructions at each other. At one point it grew so quiet it was just about possible to hear some fans muttering: "I should have stayed at home and watched the Great British Bake Off on telly."

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Bill Mann is a football correspondent for The Week.co.uk, scouring the world's football press daily for the popular Transfer Talk column.