England - The Roaring Lions

Very good results mate!

@Pompey - Thanks man!
@TodayatTomorrow - Thanks for the comment! Yeah, I can't wait for it either!
@AAN - Thanks man!

The Mirror Football have predicted the most likely squad that Roy Hodgson will name when England start their World Cup campaign after qualifying easily.


Although these may not be the exact 23 who will be taken to the World Cup, they are odds on favourites to get a place due to their form.

Those graphics are great! Nice update, seems like a reasonable squad to take to Brazil

2014-04-03 17:56#167213 AlexTHFC : Those graphics are great! Nice update, seems like a reasonable squad to take to Brazil

Cheers for the comment! Yeah, the players on that list look very likely to get a place in the World Cup squad, however it depends on their form and if they are injured or not!

The World Cup 2014 group stage draw has taken place with Roy Hodgson's men being placed in the 3rd seed so they will be likely to face at least one world class team in their group.

England were seeded 3rd meaning that they are going to face a very good team, with the likes of Germany and Spain possibly going into England's group.
England were in Group G and their group is the following:


This will be a very easy group on paper for Roy Hodgson's lions, however they will be facing a tough test against 2006 World Cup winners Italy, who possess some exceptional players in their squad such as Mario Balotelli and Claudio Marchisio.
Morocco and Qatar doesn't pose as a threat to either England or Italy, however both teams need to make sure they win against Morocco and Qatar if they want to progress into the round of 16. On paper the group looks already won for England and Italy, but the question on everyones lips will be who can come top of the group.

Roy Hodgson will be very pleased with his group and should progress with their only threat being Italy which will be a very entertaining game to see who will get top spot in the group.

Oo, Italy will be tough, but you should get through Great update.

2014-04-04 19:56#167325 LFC : Oo, Italy will be tough, but you should get through Great update.

Thanks for the comment pal! Yeah, Italy will be tough but I reckon we'll finish top, either way I'm confident we'll get through our group.

Roy Hodgson's Press Conference on the World Cup Draw

RH: Good afternoon everyone, I'd like to thank you on behalf of myself and Steven for joining us today, we are now taking questions.

NR: Hi Roy, I'm here on behalf of BBC Sport, I'd like to hear your reaction to your World Cup group, what are your thoughts?

RH: Good question. I have to say I'm delighted with our group, I'm not criticising any team in any way as every time at this stage of the competition has done well to qualify for the World Cup due to strong opposition but I believe we can really rubber stamp our position on this group, we have a very tough test playing Italy, who are a very solid team, and It'll take a lot to defeat them but I really see us progressing out of our group and into the last 16. Morocco and Qatar are both good teams but I think we have a much better gulf in class compared to them and I believe we can easily get past them.

NR: Hello Roy, I'm here reporting for ITV Sport, how do you think you'll fare in the World Cup? I'd really like to hear your thoughts.

RH: Well, I can certainly say it's going to be a very tough competition, looking at the teams involved you can easily say it's anyone's game. I really do think we can progress very far in the World Cup, I have a very good selection of players to choose from and if the team can perform well together and link up well, I really cannot see why we can't win the whole competition. You well may think I'm being unrealistic with my expectations, but with the squad I have, we have players there who can really win games for us, and I believe that the squad we have now is probably the best squad we've had for a while now and can certainly do well in the World Cup.

NR: Roy, I'm reporting on behalf of Sky Sports News, we'd like to hear your views on what Ashley Cole said about you a couple of months ago.

RH: I don't want to spark any feuds with Ashley, and I don't want the media to take my comments out of hand, so I'll be quick with this, I am surprised with Ashley's comments, I wanted to take other players instead of him and see what life is like without him, as he isn't the youngest of players and I need to look ahead to the future at the kind of talent we have now and see how those kind of players perform at international level, I hope Ashley understand where I am coming from, I have not said he won't be coming on the plane to Brazil, however if his form doesn't step up he could be left out.

NR: Roy, I'm a reporter from ESPN, I'd like to hear your thoughts on a potential team you will take with you to Brazil.

RH: Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you but I'm not releasing any information on my team for the World Cup. As I've said many times before, only Steven here is currently on the list as he is our captain, and I have not made my final decision yet, I have lots of time to evaluate each player and you'll hear a decision when I make my final squad selection for the World Cup.

NR: Okay, Steven, I'm reporting for The Mirror, I want to hear your opinions on your manager if you would please.

SG: Well ya know, the gaffer is doing a very good job in-charge, he's got us to this stage and deserves all the plaudits he is getting. He trains us well and gives us very motivational team talks which is really helpful as a player to see your manager has belief in you no matter what. He is a very nice man and gets his tactics spot on, if any manager deserves to win the World Cup, it's Roy.

NR: Steven, I'm reporting for The Sun, how do you see your World Cup chances?

SG: Well as the gaffer said before, we can do well. I really cannot predict how far we will go but I think I can speak on behalf of every country in the World Cup, our objective is to win it, and that's what we'll strive to do, any team can achieve that if they work well together and play as a team. It'll be a tough ask but I believe in this team and that we can succeed in Brazil.

NR: Okay, that's all, thank you Roy and Steven.

First major landmark on this story! Thanks for all your replies and for viewing this story, I will be trying to 'step-up' my updates and landmarks like this motivate me much more to providing a better story!
Thanks again,

-Josh_MU.

I can't take screenshots on my computer. It is crap. But if I can win the world cup with England, you can easily do it. Good Luck!

Nice group draw, Hopefully you can get one over the Italians.

@Qwerty - Nice one on winning the World Cup! Thanks for the comment!

@Denzy - Yeah, I'm lucky to get an easy group. Italy will be tough but we can beat them.

England were lucky enough to come away with a 1-0 victory after a poor performance against Ecuador.

England kicked off their first of two friendlies before the start of the World Cup, this time their opposition was Antonio Valencia's Ecuador, who were unfortunate to not qualify for the World Cup but possess lots of pace in their front five.

Hodgson was given strict instructions by the managers of Joe Hart, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker and Daniel Sturridge that they were only allowed to play 45 minutes for England in this friendly, which Hodgson stuck to the avoid any rifts with other managers.

England XI vs Ecuador

(4-3-3) Hart(45'); Walker(45'), Cahill(c), Caulker, Baines; Jones(45'), Wilshere, Carrick; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sterling, Sturridge(45').

Subs: Ruddy, Smalling, Jagielka, Rodriguez, Shaw, Lallana, Rooney, Johnson(45'), Milner(45'), Agbonlahor(45'), Foster(45').

Hodgson included some in-experienced players in the team and without usual captain Steven Gerrard, Chelsea's Gary Cahill took the armband to lead his team out to victory. England's front three of Chamberlain, Sterling and Sturridge looked to provide the biggest threat going forward due to their exceptional pace and understanding between eachother.

On paper, England look set to steam roll over Ecuador, however Ecuador had a point to prove after not being able to qualify for the World Cup and wanted to perform to their very best, this looked all set for a very good match at Wembley.

---

England started rather slowly, which is unusual as they usually start very quickly and try to get the ball to their wingers, they were pinging passes around the back and tried to advance forward by playing simple balls to Sturridge who was the lone striker tonight, but he couldn't hold up play for the others to advance forward.

The same story happened for the first 30 minutes, England had lots of possession but they could't open up a narrow Ecuadorian defence, however Sterling received the ball from a long pass by the stand in skipper Gary Cahill and ran Ecuador's left back to the byline, Sterling then whipped the ball in with pace and the keeper was able to swipe the ball out to Phil Jones, who was 25 yards out, and the Manchester United centre back, who was playing in midfield today drilled the ball low and hard into the bottom right corner to give England the lead.

Accurate: Phil Jones(above) was able to direct the ball precisely so it was able to hit the bottom corner from 25 yards out.

Jones celebrated with the England players but then a Ecuadorian fan ran onto the pitch and the game had to be paused whilst security caught the man and took him off the pitch.
The game then continued and England looked to have a spring in their step after Jones's goal and looked very determined to win the ball back when Ecuador had possession.

The referee soon blew the whistle for half-time with England in-front after a Phil Jones wonder-strike and then Roy Hodgson had to make 4 changes as he obeyed the orders of Joe Hart, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker and Daniel Sturridge's managers and only played them for 45 minutes, and brought on Glen Johnson, James Milner, Gabby Agbonlahor and Ben Foster.

England continued to try and open up the Ecuadorian defence but numerous times they either mis-placed their passes or wasted opportunities when the ball came to them. Luckily for England, Ecuador couldn't pose a threat to Ben Foster's goal and it gave England's back four an easy day in the office.

England couldn't add to Phil Jones's goal and the game finished 1-0 to England, however many England players looked frustrated after only narrowly beating Ecuador at home, however the England defenders looked rather pleased with themselves after a good day of defensive work at the back.

Alert: Stand in skipper Gary Cahill(above), made the most interceptions out of all the players on the pitch, 25.


Roy Hodgson's Post Match Comments:

"As much as our defence was very solid, I'm rather concerned that with the team I named, we were only able to score one goal against Ecuador. Credit to them as they defended very well but in future, we need to create and take more chances. The players tonight had a chance to impress me and I can say right now only a few played well and the others who didn't know who they are and that they need to improve before I choose my 23 man squad."

Love the graphic with the predicted squad, and that group isn't too tough. Italy might be a struggle, but otherwise, you should coast through that group.

Good win, always nice to win your matches, although shame it was only 1-0!