'It's do-or-die' says GerrardThree Lions skipper wants to make the nation proud.
Wednesday, 23 June, 2010
Steven Gerrard wants to make the whole country proud when England face Slovenia in their final Group C game.
The Three Lions will qualify for the second round of the World Cup if they beat Matjaz Kek's side in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday afternoon.
Fabio Capello's side go into the clash with two points after a 1-1 draw with the USA in their opener and a goalless draw with Algeria last Friday and the captain knows that now is the time for England to step up. He believes the team need to play with more purpose once they step out onto the pitch.
Gerrard said: "We want to make the nation proud and happy, and I think a good win can give the people more confidence.
"We came into the tournament with big expectations. We as players take responsibility for under-performing in the last game.
"We have got a very important game on Wednesday and as players and as the captain we have to focus on this game - it's a do-or-die situation.
"Hopefully we're ready to go out and do the business. We need to perform, we need to improve on the last performance when we stopped doing what we did in the qualifying games."
He added: "We want to start the game really well, be compact and difficult to beat, and also find the cutting edge in the final third.
"In training over the last couple of days you could see the players hurt from the Algeria performance. We can't wait for this game to start and put it right."
· 
ინგლისური ფეხბურთის ფანკლუბი, THREE LIONS ON THE SHIRT
