Pearce: 'Triumph in adversity'
Julian Bennetts
Wednesday, 17 June, 2009
Head Coach wants his side to keep showing their character.
Click here to watch the full press conference
Stuart Pearce has hailed the character of his England Under-21 side ahead of Thursday's crunch European Championship clash with Spain.
England's youngsters had to dig deep in their opening game against Finland, with Micah Richards' header rescuing a 2-1 victory and a crucial three points after Michael Mancienne had been dismissed with just half-an-hour played.
But Pearce is adamant that it shows the strength of his squad and underlines how each individual is ready to sacrifice his own ambition for the team.
"The main thing to come out of the Finland game is the character we have to triumph in adversity," said Pearce.
"I'd be happy to have these boys in my corner every day. They have a strong will amongst them which always gives you a chance in any football match.
"Going down to ten men, a lot of nations would have been happy to settle for a point but we wanted to win the game and everyone had to give an extra 10 per cent.
"The players put the squad before themselves. It's been spelt out to them many times it's about the collective getting over the finishing line, not the individual.
"The whole is always greater than the individual sum of their parts."
Pearce also confirmed that Richards, Nedum Onuoha, James Milner and Adam Johnson will all undergo fitness tests before the game in Gothenburg.
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