Lampard wants a passionate showing against Costa Rica

Monday 23 Jun 2014
Frank Lampard will captain England against Costa Rica

Frank Lampard insists England must show their fans what it means to represent the nation when they take on Costa Rica tomorrow.

The Three Lions’ exit from the World Cup was sealed on Friday when the Central Americans beat Italy 1-0, with Roy Hodgson's men having suffered back-to-back defeats against Italy and Uruguay previously.

But Lampard - who will captain a much-changed England side against Los Ticos - stressed the importance of leaving Brazil with a win.

Costa Rica v England

FIFA World Cup 2014
5pm BST, Tuesday 24 June
Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte
Live on ITV1

He said: "This is about showing the pride of wearing an England shirt, whether it's a friendly or a game like this.

"It would be very easy to roll over and say it hasn't been our tournament, let's go home with three defeats.

“But if we can take anything from this tournament it's been the progression behind the scenes and, hopefully, a result tomorrow.”

He added: "It is possible to pick ourselves up and it's certainly a good test of character. It’s been a tough few days. We came here to do better than what's turned out to be the case.

"Now we are in a situation where we have to show we're men. Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Joe Hart have all said we're disappointed, but as grown men, as grown-ups, we have to move on."

Only Gary Cahill and Daniel Sturridge will keep their place in the team that lost 2-1 to Uruguay last week, with England boss Hodgson blooding his younger players tomorrow.

Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Luke Shaw, Jack Wilshere and Ross Barkley will all start alongside Lampard, as will Ben Foster, James Milner and Adam Lallana.

And Lampard has warned his team-mates to be wary of the threat of Arsenal striker Joel Campbell, who starred in Costa Rica’s 3-1 demolition of Uruguay and impressed again in the win over Italy.

He added: I am very aware of Joel Campbell from the Champions League last year. He's done himself big favours which will help him in the future.

"We have respect and give a lot of credit to Costa Rica. Maybe they didn't have any pressure on them [before the tournament] but they have preformed well."


By Jamie Bradbury FA Editor in Belo Horizonte