Lampard 'praying'
Friday, 16 November, 2007
Frank Lampard was pleased to be back in an England shirt - now his attention turns to Tel Aviv on Saturday.
Austria 0-1 England
International Friendly
8pm, Friday 16 November 2007
Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna
Frank Lampard insisted that England had completed a professional job after Steve McClaren’s side beat Austria 1-0 in Vienna.
Peter Crouch’s first-half header proved the difference between the sides as England warmed up for Wednesday’s potentially vital Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia with a comfortable victory.
Lampard turned in a man of the match display in the centre of midfield having been warming the substitutes' bench in recent months due to the form of Gareth Barry. Needless to say, the Chelsea man was happy to be back.
"I was pleased, I always want to play for my country and I feel I’ve been playing well for my club and I did as well as I could," he said.
The win, however, was marred by a thigh injury that rules striker Michael Owen out of the Wembley clash, but Lampard believes that McClaren’s options up front mean that England can survive the loss of the Newcastle man, despite it being ‘a massive blow’.
"It’s difficult to come away from home, but we had a good first-half and knocked it about really nicely," said Chelsea midfielder Lampard.
"We could have made it easier for ourselves in the second-half, but there you go."
Lampard continued: "Losing Michael is a huge blow as he always produces in the big games.
"But we’ve got options – Peter (Crouch) showed what he can do tonight and Jermain Defoe came on and looked really sharp."
England are hoping Israel can do them a favour by taking points off Russia in Tel Aviv on Saturday, and Lampard admitted the players will be watching with fingers crossed.
He said: "It’s frustrating, there’s nothing you can do about it and that’s tough – watching and hoping, praying that on Wednesday we can qualify."
Teams:
Austria: 1 Jurgen Macho (21 Alex Manninger, 26), 14 Gyorgy Garics, 3 Martin Stanzl (16 Martin Hiden, 86 mins), 4 Franz Schiemer, 5 Ronald Gercaliu, 2 Joachim Standfest (17 Veli Kavlak, 78 mins), 6 Rene Aufhauser, 7 Yuksel Sariyar (20 Martin Harnik, 65 mins), 8 Markus Weissenberger (11 Roman Kiernast, 46 mins), 10 Andreas Ivanschitz (c), 9 Sanel Kuljic (18 Christoph Leitgeb, 46 mins).
Subs: 13 Johannes Ertl, 15 Christian Fuchs, 19 Jurgen Saumel, 22 Jurgen Patocka.
England: 1 Scott Carson, 2 Micah Richards, 3 Wayne Bridge, 4 Steven Gerrard (16 Gareth Barry 46), 5 Joleon Lescott, 6 Sol Campbell (15 Wes Brown 46), 7 David Beckham (18 David Bentley 62), 8 Frank Lampard, 9 Peter Crouch (21 Alan Smith 73), 10 Michael Owen (24 Jermain Defoe 34), 11 Joe Cole (20 Ashley Young 46).
Subs: 12 Ashley Cole, 13 David James, 14 Nicky Shorey, 17 Phil Neville, 19 Stewart Downing, 22 Paul Robinson, 23 Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Goals
Crouch 44
Match Officials:
Referee: Nicolai Vollquartz (Denmark)
Assistant Referees: Bo Abildgaard, Torben Jensen (Both Denmark)
Fourth Official: Fritz Stuchlik (Austria)
Kit Colours:
Austria: Red shirts, white socks, red socks
England: White shirts, blue shorts, white socks