Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon believes that the success of the Premier League has contributed to the downfall of England's national side.
The Three Lions failed to make it past the quarter-final stage for the sixth tournament in a row at Euro 2012 after losing to the Azzurri on penalties.
The Juventus stopper blamed "footballing globalisation" for England's international failure and said that foreign imports have stifled the development of homegrown youngsters.
"Having a competitive league doesn't necessarily mean having competitive players," said Buffon. "For a number of years now, the English league has had the best football and is the best league in terms of quality.
"The money that's in the game means they can go and buy anyone from all over Europe or the world. This can happen in Spain and Italy as well as England but the league in England is no longer very faithful to what the national side needs.
"With this footballing globalisation, it's very difficult. You struggle to have players from your own country playing in the top league. But England aren't very lucky. They've lost on penalties in the last five or six times, so the margins between winning and losing are very thin indeed."
Buffon will win his 120th cap against Spain in the final of Euro 2012 tonight.
Michael Penkman
