Wickham happy with winner
Wednesday, 17 October, 2012
England Under-21s forward was delighted to score the winner in Serbia
Connor Wickham was delighted to score the winning goal in Serbia that sent England Under-21s in to the Euro 2013 Finals.
Despite victory and the unmatched achievement of reaching a fourth consecutive European Championship, the game was marred by events at full-time in Krusevac.
Sunderland forward Wickham was an 89th-minute substitute for Stuart Pearce’s men as they looked to prevent the home side from drawing level in the tie.
And deep into injury time, as Serbia had pushed all eleven players forward for a set-piece, England broke through Tom Ince. The Blackpool winger then laid the ball into the path of Wickham to roll into the empty net with the last kick of the game.
“To come on with only a few minutes left and to try and hold the ball up is difficult to get into," Wickham told FATV after the game.
“The fans were on our backs for the whole game, so to come on and get the winner was obviously delightful for me.
“I just tried not to miss-control it and put it in the goal. That was all that was going through my mind and I knew that if I did it was us going through.
“You have to concentrate more when you’re through for an open goal than when you do for a keeper in goal. We’ve worked hard to get here and it’s paid off. We’re going to the Finals.”
The goal sparked controversial scenes that saw also England’s Danny Rose and Serbian captain Slobodan Medojevic both dismissed for second yellow cards.
Wickham admitted that he and his team mates were expecting a tough game, but he’s pleased they showed their strength to maintain a fifth clean sheet in a row and edge the game late on.
“They are obviously known for their physical attributes, but I think all the boys handled it well and we dealt with it as a team. It was just nice to get the win.
“It’s not easy for the whole team to come away and keep a clean sheet. The back four and the goalkeeper did fantastically well for us.
"That’s what the aim was all along and we are more than capable of doing it. We’ve proved we can come anywhere and win.”
You can watch the interviews with Connor Wickham, Jack Butland and Jordan Henderson in the FATV player below.