updated 3:38 p.m. ET July 2, 2006

BUEHLERTAL, Germany - England’s exit from the World Cup marked the end of two eras: David Beckham is no longer captain and Sven-Goran Eriksson is no longer coach.

Beckham — one of the world’s best-known sportsmen — choked back tears Sunday as he announced he was stepping down from the captaincy he’d had for nearly six years. He barely looked up as he read a speech he’d written late the night before.

The emotion wasn’t just the loss of his captaincy. It also was that his World Cup career was pretty much over, and he wouldn’t be able to emulate 1966 England captain Bobby Moore by lifting the champions’ trophy.

“Our performance during this World Cup has not been enough to progress further, and both myself and all the players regret that and are hurt by that more than people realize,” said Beckham, who hopes to keep playing for England.

Beckham limped off with a leg injury in the 52nd minute against Portugal on Saturday.

Ten minutes later, Wayne Rooney was sent off. The game remained scoreless after extra time — then England wilted in the penalty shoot out. Portugal missed two and still won 3-1. Only Owen Hargreaves converted; Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Jamie Carragher had theirs saved.

“Why we don’t get the penalties right, I don’t know. I really don’t know,” Eriksson said.

“We’ve been practicing penalties for five, six weeks now, more or less everyday. And when we come to the final shootout, the opposition missed two of five,” Eriksson added. “You think you should have a good chance then. We were able to miss three of four which is very poor and that’s it.”

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It was the fifth time in eight tournaments that England has been eliminated on penalties. Beckham was part of three of them. At 31, this could be his last World Cup, along with former teammate Gary Neville and backup goalkeeper David James.

Beckham overcame criticism by British press and former players to score one and set up two goals for England in Germany. But it wasn’t enough to prevent Eriksson’s 5 1/2 years as England’s first foreign coach from ending in disappointment. The Swede turns the job over to his assistant, Steve McClaren, immediately.

“If you are the manager, you are always responsible,” Eriksson said.

Eriksson had some of the most individually talented players England has ever produced at his disposal at this World Cup.

It didn’t help that Rooney broke his foot five weeks before the tournament began and wasn’t fully fit when he did play. Or that Michael Owen, who had his own problems with fitness after a broken foot, went home after three games with a serious knee injury.

What Eriksson couldn’t do was motivate Frank Lampard into recreating the form that has made him crucial for Chelsea. Or work out a way to make him gel with the similar attacking style of Steven Gerrard.

Rooney struggled alone up front and Eriksson never gave his third striker — 17-year-old Theo Walcott — the chance to prove himself worthy of a surprising World Cup call-up.

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After years of rarely making changes, Eriksson constantly experimented with his formations in Germany.

His only success was with Hargreaves. Freed from his usual role as a late substitute to play his preferred defensive midfield position, he finally won the hearts of England fans with his strong performances.

England had a litany of excuses for its poor performance in the four games leading up to Portugal: heat, hard pitches, defensive tactics, poor passing. Ironically, England played some of its best soccer in the quarterfinal.

And lost.

“We had a very good chance, we didn’t take it,” Eriksson said. “The opportunity was there, we didn’t take it so I’m sorry about that.

Eriksson doesn’t have a new job lined up. One of the highest-paid soccer coaches in the world, he said it wasn’t up to him to decide if he was worth the money.

“I tried to do the best I could,” he said. “I am very sorry about the result this time, because we shouldn’t go home today. We are better than that.”

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