McClaren 'delighted' by win

International Friendly
8.05pm, Wednesday 16 August 2006
Old Trafford, Manchester United FC

Steve McClaren was a very satisfied man after watching England romp to a 4-0 win over Greece in his first game in charge.

"I'm absolutely delighted," he said. "Particularly with the first half performance when the players did everything that we asked from them."

The result was a perfect start to McClaren's tenure, but the manner in which the victory was achieved pleased the new Head Coach the most.

"We defended well too and worked very hard and controlled the game with our possession, passing and pressing.

"We played with a lot of freedom and lost any fear after the first goal went in and some of the performances were outstanding."

McClaren dismissed the view that it was 'only a friendly', as he had done in the run-up to the game, stressing that any game for England was important. He also added that the players were encouraged to play without fear.

"It was a friendly, but we approached it in a serious way. You could see the freedom throughout the team as we progressed and we said at half-time that we wanted to keep a clean sheet and also try and get another goal.

"I was most pleased with the way we controlled the game through everyone being comfortable on the ball, keeping things simple and passing the ball well. We got our periods when we could rest, counter attack and score goals.

McClaren had kind words for Steven Gerrard and Stewart Downing, who both performed well.

"Stevie is an intelligent player on that right-hand side and Downing did well on the left too in a similar way."