YOUNG MIGHT BE BACK

England manager Roy Hodgson has revealed that Manchester United winger Ashley Young is edging closer towards his recovery before the crucial quarter-final match against Italy.

The Man Utd winger has been a major concern for the match after suffering an injury blow in the match against Ukraine. England have qualified for the quarter-finals of the competition as the group winners. They will be facing Italian in the quarter finals of the competition knowing that they will be facing Germany in the semifinals of the competition, which will be a major motivation for the England players.

So far, England have been extremely disciplined and tactical in their approach, but could be found out in the match against due to the fact that it has always been the hallmark of Italian play. Due to the form shown by Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo, it is expected that England will have to do a lot of defending against Italy. Counter-attack style of play will be extremely crucial in this match. Manchester United winger Ashley Young is extremely crucial to the counter-attacking style of play adopted by Roy Hodgson, but his absence could prove to be a major problem. As it is, he is looking likely to recover.

“We’re more organised than ever. The lads have all been fighting for each other, we want to do this together, so I think we’ve got a great chance. We feel good, we’ve prepared well and we’re really looking forward to it. It’s important that we believe in ourselves. We’ve got a great group of players and we’re confident. It’s not going to be an easy game, but we’ve got the players, we’ve got the belief and the togetherness to do a job on them. Once you get to this stage of the competition anything can happen,” said Wayne Rooney.