Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Roy Hodgson warns Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard not to move to LA Galaxy

Lampard is out of contract at the end of the season

Jack Pitt-Brooke
Thursday 07 February 2013 02:00 GMT
Comments
Roy Hodgson is the first England manager for 23 years to beat Brazil
Roy Hodgson is the first England manager for 23 years to beat Brazil (PA)

Roy Hodgson warned England hero Frank Lampard he could put his international career in jeopardy if he moves to the United States, after the midfielder scored England's winning goal in a historic 2-1 victory over Brazil at Wembley.

Lampard came off the bench to score the winner in England's impressive win over Brazil, the first for the national team in 23 years and fourth ever, but coach Hodgson said it would be harder for him to continue for England and potentially reach 100 caps if he leaves for a club outside Europe.

“I hope we will keep Frank in England,” Hodgson said after the win. “I know he will have a lot of offers if Chelsea do decide they're prepared to let him go. I'm rather hoping we'll still see him if not in England then Europe which will make my task easier.”

David Beckham left Europe in 2007 to join LA Galaxy, for whom Lampard is anticipated to sign when Chelsea release him this summer.

“If he goes further afield and follows David, it complicates matters but it doesn't mean your career is over with England,” Hodgson said. “But the further afield you go, the more problematic it gets for the media and the England manager to follow you.”

Hodgson said that England thoroughly deserved their victory after controlling most of the game.

“I'm pleased with the way we went about our business,” he said. “We didn't steal anything. Apart from that somewhat mad spell at the start of the second half when we tried running with the ball at the back, and a bad backpass, we dealt well with the problems and questions asked of us by Brazil.”

Jack Wilshere was man of the match, starting the move from which Wayne Rooney put England ahead, and Hodgson said he did not worry about increased expectations.

“I was trying to protect [Wilshere] yesterday, but he doesn't need it,” Hodgson said. “You can crank the expectations up as much as you like, but he's comfortable. As long as he's comfortable, why should I worry?”

Wilshere's performance was described as “very good, very good” by Brazil manager Luis Felipe Scolari afterwards, who said he was not surprised by England's quality and dominance.

“We played against a strong England team with strong players in good physical form, with seven or eight of my players who have only just started their preparations, so I'm not disappointed,” Scolari said.

“I wasn't surprised. We'd seen all the data and videos, and England always play like that when they're in good form. Let's see what they play like on 2 June at the Maracana.”

The evening was marred by some crowd disrespect of the minute's silence beforehand. The moment of silence was to mark the deaths of the recent Santa Maria night-club fire in Brazil, in which over 200 people died, the 55th anniversary of the Munich air crash and the 20th anniversary of the death of former England captain Bobby Moore.

But there were audible interruptions from a few parts of the ground which were shouted down by some supporters. The fans eventually had to drown out the jeers by ending the minute themselves with a round of applause.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in