Steven Gerrard has hinted that he may retire from his position as captain of the England team, following a 2-1 defeat to Uruguay and a potential exit from the World Cup 2014 tournament.
Speaking after the match to The Telegraph, Gerrard said: “I think I need to park that hurt and the feeling I have got and see what happens over the next four or five days, but if you go out in the group stage it will be a very personal low for myself and the team, and I am sure everyone will feel very similar.”
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When asked of whether he was going to discuss his future with the England squad, he replied: “It’s not the moment now. But as I said before the tournament, I’ll be respectful to you guys [the press], so let’s see what happens over the next four or five days and we’ll talk again.”
After Wayne Rooney scored a goal to level the score in the game at 1-1, England largely had Uruguay on the back foot. However, after Gerrard accidentally tipped the ball to Suarez from a goal kick, the striker put the ball past Joe Hart to take the lead at 2-1, with the Uruguayans picking up the three points. This means that England now need to win against Costa Rica and Italy need to win their next two matches in order for England to have a hope of advancing into the knockout stages. The chances of this happening are slim, and the England team know it.
“It’s a really tough moment for everyone in the dressing room, but we need to be professional, keep fighting and pray for that [Italy-Costa Rica] scoreline to go for us”, Gerrard said. “Looking at the two games and how we have performed, we sort of deserve something out of either one of them if not both of them. I don’t think I am standing here saying we were poor in both games and our game plan was wrong.”
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