Gerrard lauds England's character
Wednesday, 03 March, 2010
Three Lions skipper praises character after comeback against Egypt.
Julian Bennetts
The England Captain, Steven Gerrard, praised his side’s character after they came back from a goal down to beat Egypt 3-1 at Wembley.
Fabio Capello’s men were trailing to Mohamed Zidan’s opener before two substitutes inspired victory, with Peter Crouch grabbing a double and Shaun Wright-Phillips also scoring.
And Gerrard, standing in for the injured Rio Ferdinand, was fulsome in his praise of England’s second-half performance - which was aided by a half-time tactical tweak by Capello.
“We were unfortunate to come in 1-0 down at half-time, but we showed good character and great togetherness to come back in the second-half and go on to win it,” said Gerrard.
“We have to give credit to Egypt. They played very well in the first-half, but the difference was that we never converted the chances that we had.
“I think we needed to press better. We were a bit like individuals in the first-half, we were pressing in ones and twos and they were passing it well around us.
“We pressed a lot better in the second-half, we won the ball in their area of the pitch and were much more dangerous going forwards.”
And Gerrard also paid tribute to former skipper John Terry for his display in the first match since he lost the armband.
He added: “I thought John was superb tonight, he handled everything very well and showed he’s a fantastic player and a great leader for us.”