New Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert has gone from highs to lows recently, dumped out of the World Cup prematurely with England just weeks after signing for his boyhood club.
The 32-year-old sealed his £4 million switch from Southampton to Liverpool earlier this month, before jetting out to Brazil as part of Roy Hodgson’s World Cup squad.
But back-to-back defeats against Italy and Uruguay in the opening days of the tournament means England cannot progress past the group stage.
Lambert was a late substitute in the defeat to Uruguay on Thursday night, and the Three Lions still have to play group D leaders Costa Rica on Tuesday.
“It’s a difficult scenario to be in, everyone’s disappointed about what’s happened and the fact that we’ve got one more game left,” Lambert told the FA’s website.
“But we’ve got to be professional and we’ve got to give our best and get three points to finish on a high against Costa Rica.
“It’s been the best experience of my career and probably the worst experience at the same time. It’s always difficult being an England fan and getting knocked out, but this time being involved is devastating to get knocked out at an early stage.”
Much has been made about the incredible rise from lower league football to the Premier League of Lambert, but this week’s exit from the World Cup was a dark moment for the Kirkby-born attacker.
“It was probably the worst moment of my career when the final whistle went and we were knocked out of the World Cup. It was horrible,” he added.
“Maybe I might look back in years to come and think ‘I’ve played in a World Cup’, that will live with me forever. But I can’t remember any moments that are as bad as that.”
England face Costa Rica at the Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday, 24th June at 5pm, before returning home.
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