The inability to turn domination into goals allowed Russian Federation to secure a last-gasp draw in their opening match and, having enjoyed a memorable 2-1 win against Wales, England failed to break down well-drilled Slovakia on Monday.
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“I think it’s certainly something we need to improve on”, the Liverpool midfielder said.
“It’s backfired, there’s no two ways about that”.
“I never have regrets if the team has played well”, he said.
“We’ve been waiting a long time to be in this competition and experience what it’s like and scoring a goal like that to get us off the mark was a fantastic feeling”.
Kane was rested for the stalemate against Slovakia and, despite an admirable display from Vardy, is likely to lead England’s attack for the rest of the tournament with Hodgson aware that he is unlikely to be offered a new contract unless he guides them to the semi-finals. “We look forward to seeing who we play next”.
“I think it’s good for me to have a week to shrug it off”, Cahill said.
It is hard for me to defend them because we haven’t scored but I believe all of them can score goals. But if we do get them, it’ll be interesting.
Hodgson was visibly irked at repeated references to his six changes against Slovakia.
Hodgson also remains bullish about his selection against Slovakia.
“And I’m pretty sure that sooner or later we’re going to make somebody pay because if we keep dominating and creating chances like we’re doing we’re going to score goals one day”.
“We’d love to have been stood here 2-0 and looking like an even better decision, but it is what it is”.
“Given the pressure of the game that was one of the best team performances I have ever been a part of”.
Asked whether finishing in first place gives them an advantage, Bale told reporters: “It definitely does, there are no easy games but this might give us a slightly easier game”.
Hart acknowledged the “tension” caused by England’s second draw which left the side waiting to meet the Group F runners-up – either Iceland, Portugal, Hungary or Austria – in Nice on Monday in the last 16.
“Yet again, this is a game we should have won, because everything we did on the field put us in a position to win, but we didn’t use those corners and free-kicks to get the win”.
“When teams have sat in against us we’ve struggled to find the net”.
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“We’ll be paying close attention to who we may get”. I’ve been waiting for a while for this moment, to show what we are capable of on a big stage.
