Rooney: England ready to end quarters jinx
Source: AFP |
June 21, 2012, Thursday
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WAYNE Rooney believes England is ready to end its quarterfinal curse after scoring the goal which sent his side into a Euro 2012 showdown with Italy.
Rooney's 48th-minute header helped England secure a 1-0 victory over Ukraine to leave Roy Hodgson's team in buoyant mood ahead of Sunday's last eight meeting with Italy at Kiev's Olympic Stadium.
The Manchester United striker, who endured an otherwise patchy return from suspension on Tuesday, admitted he was relieved to have scored his first goal in a major tournament for eight years.
Rooney also believes England has the ability to reach the last four of a major tournament for the first time in 16 years following three quarterfinal exits and a departure in the last 16 at the 2010 World Cup.
"I hope there is the belief we can go past the quarterfinals this time," Rooney said. "It will be a difficult game against Italy and it will be quite evenly matched in terms of the way we play.
"It can go either way but we're looking forward to it. We're feeling confident and we've got players in the team who can score goals.
"I haven't scored at a major tournament for a while so it was nice to get a goal which won us the game," Rooney said. "We know our qualities and what we're capable of. We've worked hard, done a lot of tactical play in training. We're difficult to beat and I don't think any team will fancy playing us."
Hodgson said he was delighted to have confounded the gloomiest assessments of his team's chances as his team finished top of Group D ahead of France - an achievement few had thought possible before the finals.
"After Fabio Capello resigned people thought the team wouldn't have enough time with a new coach to prepare," Hodgson said. "Luckily we've proved that to be wrong. I'm pleased about that. "Now we are getting good vibrations from those back home.
"It's not really a question of expectations. We want to keep going and try and enjoy this tournament for as long as we can."
Rooney's 48th-minute header helped England secure a 1-0 victory over Ukraine to leave Roy Hodgson's team in buoyant mood ahead of Sunday's last eight meeting with Italy at Kiev's Olympic Stadium.
The Manchester United striker, who endured an otherwise patchy return from suspension on Tuesday, admitted he was relieved to have scored his first goal in a major tournament for eight years.
Rooney also believes England has the ability to reach the last four of a major tournament for the first time in 16 years following three quarterfinal exits and a departure in the last 16 at the 2010 World Cup.
"I hope there is the belief we can go past the quarterfinals this time," Rooney said. "It will be a difficult game against Italy and it will be quite evenly matched in terms of the way we play.
"It can go either way but we're looking forward to it. We're feeling confident and we've got players in the team who can score goals.
"I haven't scored at a major tournament for a while so it was nice to get a goal which won us the game," Rooney said. "We know our qualities and what we're capable of. We've worked hard, done a lot of tactical play in training. We're difficult to beat and I don't think any team will fancy playing us."
Hodgson said he was delighted to have confounded the gloomiest assessments of his team's chances as his team finished top of Group D ahead of France - an achievement few had thought possible before the finals.
"After Fabio Capello resigned people thought the team wouldn't have enough time with a new coach to prepare," Hodgson said. "Luckily we've proved that to be wrong. I'm pleased about that. "Now we are getting good vibrations from those back home.
"It's not really a question of expectations. We want to keep going and try and enjoy this tournament for as long as we can."
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