‘Delighted’ Hodgson eyes Brazil
MANAGER Roy Hodgson said he endured a nervous and emotional night as England booked their place in next year’s World Cup by beating Poland 2-0 at Wembley on Tuesday.
MANAGER Roy Hodgson said he endured a nervous and emotional night as England booked their place in next year’s World Cup by beating Poland 2-0 at Wembley, in a pulsating final Group H qualifier on Tuesday.
Hodgson steered his team through an unbeaten campaign that ended with them taking top spot courtesy of six wins and four draws following Tuesday’s triumph, sealed by goals from Wayne Rooney and captain Steven Gerrard.
Anything other than a win would have left the 1966 world champions in second place but England finished on 22 points, one ahead of Ukraine, who crushed San Marino 8-0.
“You can imagine quite a few emotions are churning around inside me,” Hodgson told reporters. “I died a thousand deaths every time they crossed the halfway line.
“I will put on hold my thoughts about what we are going to do in Brazil until a later date,” he added, referring to the 2014 finals.
“I am, though, naturally delighted we completed the job.” Rooney grabbed his 38th goal in his 86th international with a 41stminute header scored without his protective headband on.
Skipper Gerrard then ended all fears of a Poland fightback in the 88th minute with his 21st goal on his 107th appearance.
“To my mind it was very fitting that Steven Gerrard was the one to score the goal that ultimately put the game beyond Poland’s reach,” said Hodgson.
“If anyone has played the captain’s innings throughout these 10 games it has been him.”
The Liverpool midfielder, who said before the game that he was still haunted by England’s 3-2 home defeat by Croatia in November 2007 — that put them out of Euro 2008 — was also delighted.
“We are thrilled with the result but they (Poland) made us work very hard for it,” said Gerrard.
“But we went out there determined that we would not put ourselves through the suffering that we suffered after that game in which we failed to reach the Euros in 2008. “Now we can prepare for the World Cup and that is a great feeling,” Gerrard said.
“I know that Wayne and I scored the goals tonight but it was a collective effort and many players have done their bit over the last two seasons to get us here.”
Rooney is now 11 goals shy of his Manchester United predecessor, Sir Bobby Charlton’s England record tally of 49.
“It was good to score again after scoring against Montenegro on Friday. I’ve been scoring for Manchester United this season too so that’s great,” he said.
“We’ve proved we can live with the pressure. We have put in two good performances and I think it was enjoyable for the fans.
”Everyone is delighted we are going to Brazil.”
Young Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Andros Townsend, who netted on his debut in the 41 win on Friday and had another superb game against Poland, said he was not going to be taking anything for granted.
This is despite having had two good games for his country.
“I know I have to stay at this level or play better because there are a lot of players who want to play for England,” he said.
“I am not even thinking about that though.
“I’ve got a hard enough job keeping my place in the Tottenham team, we’ve got so many fantastic players there.”
Poland’s manager Waldemar Fornalik, who is under threat of losing his job this week as a result of the outcome of the England clash, said that his team did not take their chances especially in the first half.
A case in point was when Robert Lewandowski screwed the ball across the face of Joe Hart’s goal from the type of chance he normally buries for Borussia Dortmund.
“We created the chances but we did not take them and we have done that throughout the campaign,” Lewandowski said.
“But England are a very good team and they are getting stronger and stronger.
“They look better and better in every match and I think they will be among the contenders for the title in Brazil,” he said.