England manager Roy Hodgson was naturally delight that he has seen his charges qualify directly from Group H following their 2-0 win over Poland at Wembley tonight.Goals from Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard ensured the three Lions top the group and can now book their places on the plane to Brazil.Hodgson admitted that he went through the emotional wringer."It was a high pressure," match admitted Hodgson."The performances in the last two games were good."Some of our play in first half was spectacular."But there are quite a few emotions, I died a thousand deaths whenever they crossed over the half way line," he said.
"Poland, who had nothing to play for showed great heart.But it was a case of getting the job done."Taking England to. World Cup Finals must be Hodgson's greatest achievement."It means an awful lot. I did it with Switzerland, who did not it have the wealth of experience and talent that England have."It's my best moment to date to take England to World Cup, not to denigrate other achievements, but I'm English and it means more when you are English."USA was great, and Brazil will be too. The blend between experience and younger players is good, I just hope they stay fit."
Hodgson won't talk about the squad he will take to Brazil, instead preferred to focus on the present."The important thing tonight was to win," he said."At the moment, all of these lads would go, with 15 to join in"But when the time comes it will be tough to select the squad. I won't contemplate it now."We are unbeaten in the group - we are proud of the achievement."We always have a chance. If you want to win the lottery, you have to buy the ticket," he suggested.That squad will contain some plays with 100s of caps to their name, and Hodgson dosen't care. "Age does not blind me," he said."It was fitting Gerard scored the deceive goal tonight. He had a great qualifying tournament."Hodgson also had prose for other players."Joe hart must pleased that' 10 games played and just four goals conceded."Also, we have two of the best left backs in the world, plus Gibbs and Luke ShawLeighton performed great."
But Hodgson still had a word of warning for players and fans alike who think that this new attacking style would reap dividends."I like to think we are an attacking side when we have the ball," he mused."But we also have to defend too."Baines must have put in loads balls where it was a whisker away from scoring but they also had chances to score"Someday it works better than others and I have make sure I'm not fooled by good players or bad," he added somewhat cryptically.
Source: Chelsea MAD
Source: FOOTYMAD
