England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is confident that his players have got more to offer after watching them struggle to overcome a stubborn Hungarian side at Old Trafford.
Goals from Steven Gerrard, John Terry and substitute Peter Crouch earned England a win over the Hungarians but for much of the performance Eriksson’s players struggled to impose themselves on the opposition.
“Hungary were even better than I thought, a good side and technically very good,” Eriksson told BBC Sport.
“You must have patience against a team defending with nine men behind the ball. We had that and started the second half very well with two goals.
“I’m happy and I’m sure we’ll be playing even better at the World Cup.”
Captain David Beckham, who created the first two England goals, said his England team-mates did well to overcome a resilient Hungary side.
“I felt good, that’s my job to set goals up and I was lucky to have a few chances. We finished them off well,” said the Real Madrid star.
“We needed to get this game under our belts because after 20 minutes it was more difficult than we thought.
“They stayed back off us and gave us more time on the ball at the back but in the last minutes of the first half we started to break them down well.
“We knew if we pushed them hard in the second half we would break them down.
“The manager and Steve McClaren said at half-time we need to press them higher – if we push them higher we can break them down.”
