Wayne Rooney said England would not focus on Gareth Bale’s threat when they look to bounce back in Euro 2016 against Wales on Thursday.
England were stunned by a late equalizer by Russia in Marseille in their opening Group B match.
A young England side looked to be heading for victory at the Stade Velodrome when Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier beat Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev with a superb free-kick.
Photo: AFP
However, three minutes from the final whistle, Russia captain Igor Berezutski stunned the stadium when he rose above the England defense to send a looping header over goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Two years after their first-round exit from the World Cup, England have to bounce back against a Wales side who beat Slovakia earlier in the day.
Real Madrid star Bale scored a stunning strike in the win.
Fresh from helping the Spanish giants to Champions League victory, he is expected to be the danger man when the sides meet in Lens.
Manchester United veteran Rooney labeled Bale as “one of the top five players” in the world, but said England would not concentrate on the winger.
“We have to stop other players; you can’t just focus on Gareth Bale,” Rooney said. “We’re not going to double-team him. We have to just think about the next game and playing the same way we did tonight on Thursday.”
England manager Roy Hodgson handed five Tottenham players their tournament debut, leaving Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy on the bench.
Despite bossing Russia for long spells, England struggled to find the net in a dominant first half that saw Adam Lallana drill wide of Akinfeev’s post and Rooney testing the Russian goalkeeper with an impressive volley.
After Russia came out fighting in the second half, the game turned 13 minutes from the end when England won a free-kick on the edge of the area after Georgi Shchennikov’s foul on Spurs midfielder Dele Alli.
Dier sent England’s rowdy fans into raptures when he stepped up to fire into the top corner of the net to score England’s first free-kick goal in a major tournament since David Beckham scored against Ecuador in 2006.
Man-of-the-match Dier admitted watching Beckham over the years had inspired him to perfect his dead-ball technique.
“Obviously, he was one of the best at it,” Dier said. “I’ve seen lots of his free-kicks and it’s something I like doing and have practiced a lot.”
After declaring the goal one of his “best moments” in soccer, he added: “I would have taken a win, with anyone else scoring.”
England centerback Gary Cahill said he believes England can bounce back against Wales and Slovakia.
“I can’t help thinking we should all be celebrating victory, but we got a kick in the teeth at the end which has made the mood after not great,” the Chelsea defender said. “We wanted to get off to a winning start, but if we bring that level of confidence and performance in the next two games, we’ll be fine.”
For Hodgson, the draw felt more like a defeat.
After seeing positives in the performance, the 68-year-old insisted: “It was a bitter pill to swallow, but if we can swallow it and take encouragement from the good things we did offensively and defensively, then I shall be very hopeful going forward that the misfortune of tonight won’t happen again.”
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