Steven Gerrard feels England’s 1-0 win against tournament co-hosts Ukraine proves the team is slowly gaining momentum at Euro 2012 after qualifying for the knockout rounds with a headed goal from Wayne Rooney.
The England captain has played a pivotal role in galvanising his teammates to the summit of Group D and according to Sky Sports News is confident the much criticised national squad will continue to progress when facing Italy in the quarter-finals on Sunday.
“It was a difficult group and the idea was to try and win it. No-one believed in us at the start but we’re gaining momentum at the right time.
“I don’t think tonight’s performance was fantastic, but we stuck together, got the job done and won 1-0 against a good team.
“We’ve been criticised in the past maybe for not turning up, under-performing and we can take that, we’re man enough. But you saw a reaction.
“When you get criticised it’s not nice and you have to react by playing better and I think that’s what we did.”
Gerrard was careful not to underestimate the Italians and insisted England appreciate the challenge on offer. Despite avoiding an undesirable clash with World and European champions Spain, the squad understand that Roy Hodgson’s men will still have to play the best teams eventually if they harbour any hope of lifting the trophy.
“Italy are next, they’ve got match-winners and we have to give them respect.
“And if we do well in the next game we might play Spain again in the competition.”
