England's downcast football team arrived back home on Tuesday after crashing out of the World Cup against arch-rivals Germany.

The players, many of whom were dressed in official England team suits, flew into London's Heathrow airport about 6:20am (0520 GMT) and appeared weary as they walked across the tarmac to waiting cars.

They were led off the plane by David Beckham, who didn't play because of injury, and followed by an entourage of wives, girlfriends and children back to what is likely to be a hostile public and press in Britain following their underwhelming performance in South Africa.

England manager Fabio Capello is waiting to hear from the Football Association whether he can keep his job.

The Italian says he wants to stay on but must wait two weeks while officials decide if he can complete his contract, which runs until 2012.

Under Capello's original contract, the FA would have been able to end their relationship with him after the tournament without having to pay him substantial compensation.

The Italian also had an option to walk away but the break clause was removed just before the World Cup against a background of interest from Inter Milan in securing the coach's services.

If the FA do decide to dispense with Capello's services it could cost them as much as 12 million pounds given the Italian earns between four and five million pounds a year.

Capello, England manager since January 2008, remained tight-lipped as he arrived at his London home where he found television crews waiting for him, having told reporters in South Africa he would make a decision about his future after speaking with Club England chairman Dave Richards.

"I have time to decide, I have to speak with the chairman," Capello said.

England, who have not won the World Cup since lifting the trophy for the only time in their history on home soil in 1966, were widely expected to reach the quarter-finals at the very least.

But they failed to top a group labelled 'EASY' (England, Algeria, Slovenia and Yanks - the United States) by Britain's biggest-selling Sun newspaper.

England could only draw with the Americans and were held to a goalless stalemate by Algeria before scraping a 1-0 win against the Slovenians.

That meant a last 16 clash against the Germans, who have repeatedly ended England's hopes at major tournaments since a team captained by Bobby Moore beat the then West Germany in the 1966 final.

That match saw Geoff Hurst score a hat-trick but controversy surrounded the striker's second goal, a shot that hit the underside of the bar and was eventually ruled to have crossed the line despite German protests.

And many German fans felt a sense of 'payback' when, with England trailing 2-1 in Bloemfontein on Sunday, Frank Lampard had a goal disallowed after his shot hit the underside of the bar, although replays showed the ball had crossed the line by a couple of feet.

The error was so glaring, it forced FIFA president Sepp Blatter to soften his previously hardline opposition to the use of goal-line technology, with the head of football's world governing body saying the issue would be discussed at a meeting next month.

Meanwhile, England fans sought solace in black humour.

Among the jokes doing the rounds on email were: "What's the difference between Cinderella and the England football team? Cinderella wanted to get to the ball" and "I can't believe we only managed a draw against a team we should have easily beaten..I'm ashamed to call myself Algerian."

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