Roy Hodgson hopes referee Paolo Mazzoleni will punish Diego Costa if he steps out of line during England’s friendly against Spain on Friday.
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But in-form Jamie Vardy, the English Premier League’s leading scorer with 12 goals, is set to miss out because of injury, meaning Harry Kane is likely to get the nod.
That means that Hodgson has had to be creative with the squad this time and Tottenham duo Eric Dier and Dele Alli, for example, are worthy call-ups.
“The whistles at Pique are a stream that’s impossible to stop”.
Tonight’s encounter at the Estadio Jose Rico Perez in Alicante promises to be an interesting test following England’s qualification cakewalk, especially as Hodgson plans to make a number of changes for this match and Tuesday’s equally glamorous friendly against France.
However, he has failed to replicate his form with Atletico Madrid and then his first season at Chelsea on the global stage, scoring just once in 11 appearances for Spain.
Are England better without Rooney?
Wayne Rooney is captain, but he is also aware that he faces a big challenge to hold down a regular first-team place in the national team.
“A lot of people forget how well we have done since that Uruguay game”.
I actually voted for Costa as player of the year last season because I think he was huge.
The England captain’s temperament has been questioned after numerous disciplinary problems throughout his career, but Rooney says Costa should not water down his controversial style.
“It has been a satisfying year for England”.
He said: “I think when a team isn’t playing well it’s not down to a single element and with Chelsea not playing well this season all of their elements are being affected by it”.
“I wouldn’t dream of suggesting that Costa is going to try underhand methods”.
Shawcross, 28, more than comfortably handled Costa’s aggression in Stoke’s 1-0 win over the Premier League champions on Sunday, and his fine performance didn’t go unnoticed by his Spanish (Brazilian) opponent.
England’s record in qualifying for Euro 2016 was even more impressive as they coasted through their group with ten straight wins to finish nine points clear of runners up Switzerland. Before that they played in February 2009 and Spain won the game 2 – 0.
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“This is football. You have to be mentally strong and prepared going into the game and I don’t think that will be something that we will be focusing on to a great extent”.
