International Football: Carroll earns praise from English footballing community
Fabio Capello praised Newcastle’s striker, Andy Carroll despite the fact that England lost the match to France at the Wembley stadium. Both the teams were competitive but France were the better team in the end as they won the match by
two goals to one. Carroll looked threatening at times during the encounter but he failed to open his international goal scoring account for the Three Lions.
Capello spoke about Carroll after the match. The ex-A.C Milan manager said, "I'm really happy for the performance of Andy because he played very well. He'll be a player who'll be important for the future of England. When he received the
ball he played quickly and his movement every time was dangerous. Franco (Baldini, England general manager) spoke with Newcastle before the game and we checked him (Carroll) before the game. I spoke with him (Carroll) at the hotel, personally, and after the
warm-up here. After the first half, too. He told me he was fit to play every time. No player has ever played with me who was not fit. Our doctor said he was fit, so the player was ready to play. He played 70 minutes very well, no problem."
Rio Ferdinand also spoke about the match and specifically Andy Carroll’s performance. The English national team captain said, "We could do better. We didn't really pass the ball and we didn't really get going until the last 15 minutes.
We didn't play to our strengths today. We didn't control the ball and we didn't retain possession. I thought Andy Carroll did well today, Kieran Gibbs and Jordan Henderson handled it well."
Speaking about the amount of young players involved for England, for their match against France on Wednesday night. Capello stated, "It is important for me that some young players play here at Wembley against a good team like France. In
this friendly fixture it was important to know the value of the young players. I told the players it is different to play with the Under-21s than to play here (against France). In the first half France played better, in the second half we played better. I
am happy for Carroll for his performance and I understand he is a good player for the future for England."
Carroll will now return back to domestic club football duty with Newcastle United. He might start for his local side against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium in their next Premier League matchup on the coming weekend.
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