England's Gary Cahill: Slovakia shut the door in our faces

Monday 20 Jun 2016
Gary Cahill jumps above Juraj Kucka

Gary Cahill bemoaned England’s lack of cutting edge as the Three Lions finished second in Group B following a frustrating draw against Slovakia.

Roy Hodgson made six changes to his starting line up and watched his side control 60 per cent of the possession and fire 29 shots on goal.

But stand-in captain Cahill and his team-mates ultimately finished runner-up to Wales after Chris Coleman’s side thumped Russia 3-0 to finish top of the group in the evening's other fixture.

Slovakia 0-0 England

UEFA Euro 2016
Group B
Monday 20 June 2016
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne
Live on ITV

 The Chelsea centre-back said: “We tried and tried time and time again but they shut the door in our face.

“It’s disappointing for us tonight because in all three group games we’ve had the majority of possession.
 
“We dominated the play from start to finish tonight but we couldn’t unlock the door and it’s disappointing for us.
 
“We had the ball constantly but we didn’t have the cutting edge to open them up. 

"In games like that sometimes you need something a little bit special when they just sit back with a bank of five and four. 

England

England's Gary Cahill and Joe Hart sing the national anthem before the Slovakia game.

“You need something special – someone to shoot from outside the box or create something which we nearly did. We got in a couple of times in the full-back areas but it wasn’t to be.” 

England will play the second-placed team from Group F on Monday evening in Nice, which means they will face one of Portugal, Hungary, Iceland or Austria in the last 16.
 
But Cahill remains confident England can get their Euro 2016 bid back on track. 

He added: “We know we’re second in the group and we’ve got a huge game coming up but it gives us time to try and get back fresh.”


By FA Staff