It may seem like a long time ago now but at the end of March, England played a friendly in Paris against France. The Three Lions were outplayed and out-thought by Les Bleus, who won the game thanks to a solitary penalty from Franck Ribery. It is fair to say that this was England’s worst performance under Fabio Capello so far.

They were beaten in Paris by a team that would go on to play at Euro 2008 and perform much like Capello’s side would have done. France struggled to score goals, were involved in one of the most boring games in the tournament against Romania, and exited the competition in the group stages.

If further evidence is needed of how far England are from challenging Europe’s elite, Capello’s first game in charge was against Switzerland, who - thanks to goals from Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips - defeated an exceptionally ordinary Swiss side. Switzerland also failed miserably in a tournament they co-hosted, losing their first two games. On the back of results against the Swiss and the French in recent months, it is difficult to see how England could have made any impact at Euro 2008.

The performance of Croatia and Russia at the European Championships has proved that the two teams that finished above England in qualifying deserved to do so. Croatia played some scintillating football, especially in their 2-1 win over Germany, whilst Russia have arguably played the best football seen at the tournament, led by the pocket genius Andrei Arshavin.

More than anything, Euro 2008 has proved that holding the ball and keeping possession are key. Of course this seems obvious, but for so long England have failed to do it on the international stage with players who consistently manage the same feat for their clubs. And Euro 2004 proved the importance of blanket defence with Greece’s surprising win.

All the teams that have impressed in Euro 2008 have had great skill when in possession of the ball. Some teams will always hold the ball well, and the Spanish use of “tiki-taka” (short, quick passing) is ingrained in their psyche. But the “middling” teams have also used the ball really well. Among these are Croatia and Turkey - the Croats, for example, put many passes together before the opening goal scored against Germany by Darijo Srna.

Other well-established teams have also shown the way for England. Germany’s mental strength has yet again come to the fore in an international tournament. And, although players like Michael Ballack and Philipp Lahm are class acts, many of Joachim Low’s side are functional footballers no better than many of England’s players.

Holland have also proved to England that even with a perceived weakness in their side it is still possible to progress in major tournaments. Holland’s defence was undoubtedly their undoing, but they managed to let in just one goal in the “Group of Death”. For so long English pundits have blamed the poor left side for their woes, but the Dutch proved that weaknesses can be overcome.

So, despite their technical shortcomings, there is a lot of hope for England - not least in manager Capello. The tournament has also proved the importance of ageing, experienced managers. Three out of the four quarter-finals were won by the team managed by an older manager. If anything, Slaven Bilic was guilty of arguing with officials rather than geeing up his players before Croatia's penalty shoot-out with Germany - a real case of inexperience.

If England can improve their technique on the international stage, they will have a real chance as not many teams in the tournament have displayed the hunger the Three Lions often have for a battle.

And, of course, there is one other reason to be optimistic. UEFA will decide later this year whether to expand the 2016 European Championships to 20 or 24 teams. Surely England would qualify if they only needed to finish third in qualifying!