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Mike Egerton/PA Wire
UK News

England could learn from Italy's Conte, says Christian sports director

Keith Hammond from Christians in Football also told the News Hour that whoever takes outgoing manager Roy Hodgson's position will be inheriting a "very difficult job."

The Three Lions exited the Euro 2016 tournament at the Place Massena stadium in the French city of Nice on Sunday night after losing 2-1 to Iceland.

Wayne Rooney scored for England in the fourth minute, while it emerged a short time after the game Roy Hodgson (pictured below) was resigning as England manager.

Mike Egerton/PA Wire

While Iceland progress to the semi-finals of the competition, Mr Hammond said the players must be "devastated" by the result but it presents an opportunity for them mature and grow.

He went on to say Italy Conte's is strong, positive and he "gets the best out of his players", all qualities the new England manager will need to bring to the table.

Mr Hammond added, as Christians, football need not become the ultimate priority.

He said: "As a Christian, Jesus is always, always triumphal. We go around, in our Christian lives, in triumph. Not triumphalist but very positive. Sometimes in life, certain things that we hoped would work out don't work out, do they?"

Mr Hammond also said not marking other Iceland's players properly led to their downfall, adding: "As a coach myself, I never go into a game thinking that it is going to easy. I always go in with a sort of a underdog mentality. We went one up early on, the next five or ten minutes are crucial."

You can listen to Keith Hammond from Christians in Football speaking with Premier's Alex Williams by clicking here.

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