England skipper, Frank Lampard, admits the Three Lions put up a good showing against Brazil in an International Friendly in Rio de Janeiro that ended 2-2, but more important than the result are their upcoming 2014 World Cup qualifying games.
Presently England are second in their 2014 World Cup qualifying group, two points behind Group H leaders Montenegro and can ill afford any more slip-ups.
England, though, are not set to do battle in their qualifying group until September 6th where they will take on Moldova at home and then Ukraine away from home four days later.
Looking at the Brazil game and his side’s performance, Lampard said he was happy with England’s showing.
“Obviously we wanted to win the game, but a lot of credit for the performance. The big games are the ones coming up that we need points in,” said Lampard on Sky Sports after the match.
“We have to take a lot of credit out of that.
“It is not an easy place to come here when they are desperate to win, they have been taking a bit of stick and all that it was a big game for them and we came here and gave them a great game.”
Lampard also praised both goalscorers Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wayne Rooney for the quality of their individual strikes that saw them come from a goal behind to lead the match before it eventually finished in a 2-2 stalemate.
“Both of them (Oxlade-Chamberlain & Rooney) deserve personal credit for their goals and obviously a little bit of shine taken off that it wasn't a winning goal, but it doesn't matter too much.”
