Lampard says there are “no egos” among the young players and claims the likes of Jack Wilshere and Ross Barkley can give England hope.
England veteran Lampard, 36, who captained the team in what could be his last performance, said: “It is down to them (Barkley and Wilshere). If they perform for their clubs they will get there.
“The manager will want to bring players through and if they perform they will get their chances. They certainly have quality.
“They are impressive. There are no big heads, the kids who have come through. No kids coming in and think they can stroll about.
“They are trying to do the right things even though we have not got out of the group. They have applied themselves, trained well and showed glimpse - at times. The disappointing thing is that the team has not done it.
“We need to improve otherwise we would not be going home. It is about the future and looking for them to get better.”
Ian Walton
Bright future: Jack Wilshere
England go home without a single win but at least they gained a point against Costa Rica and Lampard refused to try and dress up their World Cup campaign as anything but failure.
“It was the end of a disappointing tournament, obviously,” said Lampard. “We should have won the game as we had the chances.
“We played some nice stuff, in bits. It was a difficult game for us to approach and I thought we did as well as we could but it was a shame not to get the win to take home.
“It was not hard to motivate our ourselves, it was hard to know we were going to get knocked out regardless, so that was the motivation, to do something positive.”
Lampard - who won his 106th cap - could now retire from international football but insists he has yet to make up his mind. But Lampard says he will make an announcement on his club career as he is expected to join New York City FC.
Richard Heathcote
Goodbye: Lampard throws a boot into the crowd
The former Chelsea star has not always had a good relationship with England’s fans but at the end he threw his shirt to them to thank them for their support. All of the players went across and got a remarkable standing ovation.
Lampard added: “It was absolutely amazing. It made you proud to be an Englishman playing for the country with fans like that. From in and around the hotel after we came out here, they followed us and we had it in a good way.
“This morning before and after they were immense. It makes you feel a bit bad we have not given them a longer stay. Very proud to have a following like that.
“They see that they back the manager and were singing for him. They can see the squad is young and the young players will benefit from this bad experience.
“Let’s not forget we have been knocked out very early but if the fans stick with the younger players and encourage them, they will help the players.”
Action Images
Young Lions: England's Ross Barkley and Daniel Sturridge in action
Shaw said: “It was amazing to be playing in the biggest tournament in the world, a dream come true. I don’t want to stop here, I want to keep getting getter and better. It is something to remember, I was focused on winning the game but sadly we couldn’t do that.
“I thought we played some wonderful football but we have to take our chances. It would have been a massive downfall to go home with zero points.”
Jack Wilshere added: “We are professionals, we had to play for a bit of pride and show we really do love playing for the country. We showed great character to deal with the heat and not let our heads go down.
“We were nervous in the first half, it was important to get the ball down and the last 25 minutes of the first half we dominated. We created a few chances and we are just happy we didn’t lose all three of our games. You saw through this tournament we have some good young players.”
Do you think England will be any better by Euro 2016?
The remains of the female politicians, who died in a ghastly auto accident have been laid to rest at the Bayelsa State cemetery, Azikoro in Yenagoa, the state capital. President Goodluck Jonathan his wife, Dame Patience and the Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson as well as wives of the Anambra and Ekiti State Governors joined other sympathizers at a special memorial service in honour of the deceased women at the Dr. Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre, in Yenagoa.
Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has lost one of his sons in a car crash. Hamza El-Rufai died Tuesday morning in Abuja. The former Minister and Chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, APC, broke the news on his faceboook page today. El-Rufai wrote: “From Allah, we came and to Him we shall return. Please join our family in praying for the repose of the soul of my son, Hamza El-Rufai who died in a motor accident in Abuja.” See more photo below:
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that he did not join the All Progressive Congress (APC) so as to run for the Presidency in 2015, but to nurture the party and ensure that good governance is entrenched in Nigeria come 2015. Atiku who spoke in an interview with the BBC Hausa service, monitored in Kaduna on Monday, maintained that if it were because of a presidential ambition, he had clear chances of occupying the number one seat when he was in office with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, or even recently when he was in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN ). He said he let that go in the interest of the nation. Atiku vowed that he would never return to the PDP, saying that from all indications, the party would no longer be what it used to be.
Comments
Post a Comment