Euro 2012: How far can England go?
The background
A Wayne Rooney goal took England through to Euro 2012’s last eight over tournament co-hosts Ukraine, setting the stage for a quarter-final meeting with Italy on 24 June in Kiev.
The game was marked by controversy after a second-half shot from Ukraine’s Marco Devic was not given, despite cameras showing the ball had crossed the line.
Despite the result, and the return of Manchester United striker Rooney from suspension, commentators agree that this was a largely lacklustre performance from England. So can Roy Hodgson’s team make it past Italy to the semi-finals?
Luck on England’s side
“Another largely leaden performance from England, yet the gold remains in sight,” pointed out a Eurosport Early Doors blog. “Somehow, this fragile England team, which treats the ball with fear and is tarred by possession statistics that would leave Xavi nauseous and in need of a lie-down, have finished top of Group D.” It’s beginning to look as if England have luck on their side, not least because of the dodgy goal-line decision against Ukraine.
Alan Hanson: England likely to beat Italy but not to win tournament
Alan Hanson wrote in The Telegraph that England are likely to beat Italy: “Italy have looked very ordinary and they do not have a lot of pace in their team, so they will not worry England from that perspective.” However, said Hanson, that’s likely to be as far as England will go in Euro 2012: “I think England will get to the semi-finals, but the likelihood is that they will face Germany and I cannot see them getting beyond the Germans.” The England team may have growing self-belief, but they still lack players of the quality seen in previous tournaments.
Wayne Rooney needs to step up
Rooney may have scored the winning goal against Ukraine, but he needs to improve if England are to beat Italy, wrote Matt Dickinson in The Times (£). The main issue is match fitness: “You can train all you like, but only games can bring match sharpness — and Rooney had not started a game for more than a month.” And the striker also showed several “clumsy, heavy touches”: “There were a few of those miscontrols last night as he sought to play his way into the tournament,” Dickinson wrote.
How good are Italy?
Paul Wilson provided a run-down of Italy’s tournament so far on a Guardian sports blog, pointing out that the players have yet to provide a convincing attacking performance. “Italy have looked better in tournaments, but time will tell. At least they are improving game by game and starting to score goals again, which is all anyone can ask of a team in the last eight of a tournament,” Wilson said.
Watch Nike’s Wayne Rooney comeback video below.
