"We will try to prove a point -- to win and put out the next performance, and to be tough in the circumstances. We expect a very emotional stadium, we expect an emotional crowd. We expect maybe, yeah, to adapt to the circumstances. We don't know what the pitch looks like. Make no excuses. Then we come up against a very physical team. They will attack us in a man-man situation."
"This is what we see until now. They have high quality up front -- international top quality up front -- so they play very direct and we have to step up to this and adapt to the circumstances, adapt to the opponent and then prove the point that we're a strong group, and we're on the right way. Because I feel like we had an excellent five days now, and it's on us now."
England beat Andorra 2-0 at Villa Park to continue an unblemished start to Group K, with a Christian Garcia own goal and Declan Rice heading home Reece James' cross. The performance was dominant but lacked attacking cutting edge, shifting attention to the tougher away match in Belgrade against Serbia. England expect an emotional stadium and an unknown pitch while facing a physical, man-to-man Serbian side with top-quality forwards who play direct. Two days of preparation aim to adapt to the opponent's physicality, accept adversity, and secure another win to confirm group strength and progress.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]