Rooney: England performance deserved all three points

Sunday 12 Jun 2016

Wayne Rooney says England should not dwell on their Euro 2016-opening draw with Russia.

It looked like the Three Lions were set to break their long-standing record of never winning their first game at a European Championship finals, with Eric Dier's thunderous free kick having given them the lead going into stoppage time.

England 1-1 Russia

UEFA Euro 2016 Group B
8pm (BST), Saturday 11 June
Stade Velodrome, Marseille

 

But a last-gasp equaliser denied them the victory that their dominance of the game surely deserved, leaving skipper Rooney keen to highlight the positives of their performance in Marseille. 

"I think we played well," he said. "We had some good chances but we didn't take them, though we did go 1-0 up and then conceded late on.

"Of course, the lads are disappointed with not getting a win but there were a lot of positives in there. 

"I think there was some really good football – we were creating chances and we looked solid for 90 minutes – so we're disappointed. 

"The performance was worthy of three points."

The equalising goal came when Vasili Berezutsky's header looped over Joe Hart in the second minute of injury time.

"I think we knew that Russia's danger-man was the big man up front, and if they were going to get a goal then that was probably the way it was going to come," said Rooney. 

"He's a big lad so he's going to win headers at some stage, and unfortunately for us it was in a dangerous position and they got the goal from it.

"We have to move on. It's still a point and there was a lot of positives in the performance."

By Jim Lucas in Marseille