England manager Roy Hodgson backed http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926 in the quarterfinal.
With http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 having impressed in the group stages of the European Championships, Rooney commented that the squad were finding it a lot easier to communicate with their new manager, as opposed to the time when the Italian was in charge of the team.
Capello responded to the striker’s remarks by lashing out at his performance against the Azzurri, and taunted him by saying that he only understands the language of his club manager, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-c4752 Ferguson.
However, the 64-year old came out in support of his player, terming his attitude throughout their Euro campaign as ‘magnificent’ and felt that Capello was only trying to settle his personal score with the striker.
He told the reporters in an interview, “I don’t know what relationship he would have had with Wayne but I always think it’s a bit cheap to kid on a player who was so anxious to do well.”
Rooney marked his return to action in Euros by netting the decisive goal against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ukraine-c3032, after missing out on the first two games of the tournament. However, he looked slightly off colour in the quarterfinal, as the Italian defenders continuously kept him
under check.
The former West Bromwich boss gave full marks to the striker for his unwavering commitment and desire to do well. He pointed out that even the best players in the world can experience a bad day or two, and they are not robots who are programmed to deliver
whatever task that has been assigned to them.
Talking of his team’s quarterfinal loss, Hodgson admitted that the players had started to wear off as the tournament progressed. Despite the fact that they were seconded by the Azzurri in terms of ball possession and creating more goal scoring opportunities,
he commended the efforts of his players for putting up a spirited fight in the game.
He continued, “Maybe it [the quarter-final] was a bridge too far. We ran out of legs a bit in the final part and didn’t keep the ball as well as we should have done but it was a valiant effort to take the game to penalties… The players' focus couldn’t have
been better, and the effort couldn’t have been better.”
He went on to praise the performance of his defenders throughout the tournament, indicating that their striker’s shortcomings were neutralized by their rearguard and mentioned that he was proud of his team’s achievements in the European Championships.
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