Italy'll Be Tough For England—Rooney

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Wayne Rooney has warned his teammates that their EURO 2012 quarter final clash with Italy would not be a sttroll in the park.

Wayne Rooney

“Italy is a difficult game, we won’t find it easy but it will be quite evenly matched in the way we play, so it could go either way, but we’re looking forward to it,” Rooney said after England’s 1-0 victory against Ukraine last night.

England’s narrow and controversial victory against Ukraine, which ejected the co-hosts from the competition, has set up a confrontation with the Azzurri in Kiev on Sunday after England successfully avoided a meeting with the reigning world and European champions Spain.

England have stumbled at the quarter-finals in three of their past four tournaments, yet there is conviction growing within the squad that they can break through that barrier this time around.

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“I really hope we can get past the quarter-final this time,” said Rooney, who was injured in 2004 and sent off in 2006 as the English were eliminated by Portugal in the quarter-finals.

This decisive win came potentially at a cost with Ashley Young limping away from the ground – his fitness will be assessed back in Krakow – and a dose of good fortune after a Marko Devic effort went unrewarded despite John Terry having hacked it clear from behind the goal-line.

Neither the additional assistant referee nor the linesman on the near side signalled a goal, leaving the Ukraine coach, Oleh Blokhin, apoplectic .

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