England – G. Hoddle: “My players are able to score at least two goals per match”

Comments from La Baule-Escoublac (Loire-Atlantique)

“I am very satisfied with the way we played against COLOMBIA. In particular, the way we circulated the ball was much smoother. This system has enabled my players to score at least two goals per match. Experience will count a lot in the second round and especially in the game against ARGENTINA. I don’t want to talk about revenge, especially about Maradona in the ’86 match, when he won the game with his famous hand-ball. I’d simply like to redress the balance – I’m still convinced that ARGENTINA wouldn’t have won 2-0 without this golden hand-ball. Going back to the first round, I noticed that all the big guns had a few lapses: BRAZIL and ENGLAND both lost a match, GERMANY and ITALY both struggled against CHILE and YUGOSLAVIA respectively. As for SPAIN, they let their first two matches slip through their hands. Only FRANCE remains unbeaten after the first round. So we’re going to approach this second round cautiously, but confidently. We know ARGENTINA has some real fighters, who are able to get control of the game and then speed it up suddenly.”