Wayne Rooney praised coach Roy Hodgson for fielding a young, attacking lineup for England’s must-win World Cup qualifier vs. Montenegro at Wembley lastFriday, which the Three Lions won 4-1 thanks to goals from Rooney, a Branko Boskovic own goal, a wonder-strike from Tottenham’s Andros Townsend, and aDaniel Sturridge penalty. England now needs another win against Poland at Wembley on Tuesday to guarantee automatic qualification for next summer’s World Cup finals inBrazil.
“Credit to the manager, he picked a really young, attacking team,” Rooney said. “There were four of us up front, with Steve [Gerrard] and Frank[Lampard] behind, and we all attacked. Andros Townsend made a great debut, especially in such a pressure game. To come in for your first start, perform like that and score such an importantgoal was great for him and the team, and exciting for the future.”
The Manchester United striker added: “We’ve got some very exciting young players in the squad. There’s been a lot oftalk about not enough good young English players coming through, but we’ve got six, seven, eight at the moment. Not just Andros, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck, who played, butJack Wilshere, Ross Barkley, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling in reserve. They are all talented individuals, and we are very happy with the squad we’vegot.”