Hodgson: That’s a job well done
BOSS Roy Hodgson hailed England’s professional approach as they eased to a 5- 0 Wembley victory over minnows San Marino last night.
Phil Jagielka, who broke the deadlock in the 24th minute, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Andros Townsend and an own goal from Alex Della Valle did the damage as England made it two wins out of two at the start of their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
“I can’t fault the players for their application throughout the game and I’m really pleased we’ve got this game behind us,” said Hodgson.
“They’re never easy games to play, but we’ve won it very comfortably and we’ve added five goals to our tally.”
Hodgson, who has targeted 10 wins from England’s 10 qualifying matches, was happy with his team’s overall performance.
“San Marino were better this year, a better this year, though as an amateur team it’ll be a while before they win somewhere like Wembley, I hope,” said the England boss, who crossed paths with the minnows in World Cup qualifying.
“I was pleased we won, that we got the job done. We kept plugging away in the first half when it was difficult to break them down.
“Our tempo was up in the second half, because it was hard for them to keep going in that second half.
“It’s an important job done and we can concentrate our efforts on the second game, in Estonia ( on Sunday).”
Rooney’s penalty meant he became England’s first player to score 30 goals in qualifying.
The England captain is now two short of Jimmy Greaves, who lies third in the all- time scorers’ list, but he could have been even closer to the Tottenham great had he taken his chances, the best of which was an attempted chip in the second half.
“He got in a lot of times. His runs were very good,” Hodgson said.
“He’s a bit disappointed with the chip. He thought that was on. I’m more than happy with him. It was another good captain’s performance, solid throughout.”
San Marino put 10 men behind the ball whenever England had possession, making space hard to find at times. Hodgson added: “It’s a job well done. The crowd were fantastic – they’ve had an enjoyable night and saw lot of attacking football and saw five goals and there could’ve been a few more.
“In the first half of these games when a very fit and healthy team are getting 10 men behind the ball and giving you no space to play, that’s the time you’ve got to wear them down and keep plugging away.
“You’ve got to keep doing the right things knowing that if you do that and score one or two goals, in the second half it’s going to open up and you’ll get chances for lots and lots of goals.
“So the way the players approached it was very good and of course in the second half, as San Marino tired a bit more, our passing tempo was quicker and we created some very good chances and Jack Wilshere found some very good forward passes.
“The thing that impressed me most in the game was the fact that at 5- 0, on the one or two occasions we lost the ball, we had three or four players sprinting back to try and win back possession.
“That type of recovery run and desire – in a game you’ve wrapped up a long time ago – is a very commendable trait.”