A Noble effort pleases the skipper
Monday, 15 June, 2009
Mark Noble says England earned a deserved three points in Halmstad.
Alex Shaw
England Under-21s grafted a hard-earned 2-1 opening victory against Finland in Euro 2009 on Monday and Mark Noble believes it was the least they deserved for their effort.
Stuart Pearce's men had to battle to beat Finland in Group B. Lee Cattermole had put England ahead but following Michael Mancienne's sending off for a foul in the penalty area, Finland equalised through Tim Sparv.
But instead of retreating and holding on to what they had, England went for the victory and duly got the goal they deserved as Micah Richards powered home a match-winning header on 53 minutes.
Noble said: "We did not play the Barcelona style of football but we worked really hard. No matter how you get the win the result is the most important.
"We are delighted, it is tournament football so three points are the most important. Now we have a tough game against Spain and we are going to have to prepare for that one. We are looking forward to it.
"I think the conditions were tough. We been playing on wet pitches for two weeks but the pitch was dry today and that suited them. But we have won the game and put some work in. We have grafted and deserved that."