Steven Gerrard
said 'no-one believed in us at the start'© PA
Photos
Steven Gerrard says England are gaining momentum all the time as
they head into their quarter-final meeting with Italy
Roy Hodgson’s England finished top of Group D thanks to a 1-0
win against Ukraine on Tuesday and Gerrard admitted the performance
against the co-hosts in Donetsk “wasn’t fantastic” but said the
team had done what they needed to do as Wayne Rooney’s goal secured
victory.
It meant England, around whom pre-tournament expectations were
low, emerged from the group unbeaten with seven points after
drawing their opener against France and then coming back from 2-1
down to defeat Sweden 3-2.
“We came into this group, a difficult group, and the idea was to
try and win it,” Gerrard said. “No-one believed in us at the start,
but we're gaining momentum as we go along.
“The performance wasn't fantastic, but we worked hard and got
the result. Wayne Rooney's goal was a tap-in - but if he keeps
scoring tap-ins for us, we'll go a long way. He is important to the
team and the nation.”
The Liverpool captain said England had “found a better level of
performance” and explained: “We have been criticised in the past -
we can take that, but you've seen the reaction.
“It is not nice to be criticised, but you need to respond. We'll
take each game as it comes. The Italians are next, and they're very
strong defensively.
“You need a bit of luck to do well in these competitions. Let's
hope we get a bit more along the way.”
Gerrard's fellow midfielder Scott Parker urged fans to remain
realistic despite England’s progress, telling the FA website the
team were not “all of a sudden going to turn into Spain".
“The more we progress, we put more pressure on ourselves," he
said. "We'll keep taking it step by step - and then who knows?”
Goalkeeper Joe Hart praised both matchwinner Rooney and
England’s supporters, in Ukraine and at home. The Manchester
City star said: “We've listened to the support of these magnificent
people today, the brilliant people at home have wished us well, and
we're just really proud.
“Wayne Rooney returned and scored a goal like Wayne Rooney does,
because that's the type of player he is.
“We can achieve what we came here to achieve - we came to win
games. France was a tough start, yet we felt we could have won it,
and now we've won these last two games.”
Midfielder James Milner hailed the togetherness in the England
camp and said: “It is pleasing we are improving, and the more time
we spend together we will get stronger and stronger,” while Joleon
Lescott, who scored England’s opening goal of the tournament
against the French, said: “We want to continue to progress and get
as far as we can.”
