But, despite being unbeaten in 15 matches, the low standard of their Group E opposition means Hodgson s team are still something of an unknown quantity and have plenty to prove before they can dream of emulating Spain s achievement. It’s good preparation for us.
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“We had a game plan here and we knew what we had to do”.
“It’s a great achievement”. From the offset we confirmed our intentions and have been very dominant from the first minute.
“You can see, slowly, he is fulfilling that potential but he has the mentality of a great player”.
Hodgson has also admitted England will now get a better sense of where they are in real terms in their next round of friendlies.
Around 100 staff are set to lose their jobs at the FA as the organisation looks to trim costs and plough more money into grassroots football.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain blasted England’s third at Arlauskis’s near post after 62 minutes as they became the only team in this qualifying competition to win all their matches.
Kane wasted two good chances to add a goal of his own after the break.
Captain for the evening Phil Jagielka was the oldest player in a white shirt at 33-years-old, with the likes of Ross Barkley, Harry Kane, Jonjo Shelvey, Jack Butland, Dele Alli and Danny Ings, all under 23, getting minutes.
“Basically, he is aligning that coaching advice to his enormous talent and we are seeing the benefit of it. He is not always going to score spectacular goals and dribble past people as if they are not there, and against better opposition he will find that harder as well”.
If history is to be repeated, England will make the semi-finals at the very least – that’s what Germany achieved at Euro 2012 after winning all 10 of their qualifying games.
“I thought it was excellent, in the first half especially”, said Hodgson in his post-match interview.
‘Hopefully we play well in those games and it gives us a bit more confidence looking forward to boarding the plane to France. But qualification was the main thing.
“I know Everton have been really happy with his performances”.
Ross Barkley is not guaranteed a place in England’s starting line-up for next month’s friendlies, manager Roy Hodgson said of the Everton midfielder who impressed in their European Championship qualifier wins against Estonia and Lithuania.
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Keeping hold of the ball and probing patiently, England finally took the lead just before the half-hour mark after Barkley cut across Mindaugas Panka and saw his hopeful drive cannon off Tomas Mikuckis and into the back of the net via a fortunate nick off the inside of the upright.
