England 1 Italy 2: Steven Gerrard 'proud' of performance despite defeat in Manaus

England skipper looking at the positives after the loss to Italty

Tom Sheen
Sunday 15 June 2014 13:49 BST
Comments
Steven Gerrard says England can be "proud" of their performance despite 2-1 defeat to Italy
Steven Gerrard says England can be "proud" of their performance despite 2-1 defeat to Italy (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

England captain Steven Gerrard has insisted his team "can't be down" after their performance despite losing 2-1 to Italy.

The Three Lions performed admirably but were undone by a long-range Claudio Marchisio strike and Mario Balotelli's second-half header. Daniel Sturridge converted an excellent Wayne Rooney cross after Raheem Sterling's cutting through-ball, but England were unable to find an equaliser despite some encouraging attacking play.

"It’s always disappointing to lose a game but I’m certainly not disappointed in my team-mates with the effort, desire and commitment in the performance we gave," said Gerrard.

"We can’t be down after a performance like that."

England look a different side from the one who was dumped out against Italy on penalties in the quarter-final of Euro 2012, playing with a verve and intent that was missing in Poland/Ukraine.

Gerrard said the team had "moved on" from that tournament.

"We’ve certainly moved on from two years ago," he said. "I’m really proud of how we played."

After Uruguay suffered a shock defeat to Costa Rica, two wins for Roy Hodgson's men should be enough to see them qualify, despite the defeat.

"It’s always disappointing to lose a game but I’m certainly not disappointed in my team-mates with the effort, desire and commitment in the performance we gave," added Gerrard.

"We can’t be down after a performance like that."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in