Playing it cool as hype engulfs the nation

13 April 2012

The euphoria that has followed our outstanding win in Munich has engulfed the country.

It is always amazing to see the effect the England team can have on the mood of the nation and it makes you appreciate how privileged you are to represent your country.

As a footballer you have the opportunity to allow people to escape from the worries of their life, even if that is done sometimes by shouting abuse at you! Seeing the delight of the England fans on Saturday night was one of the highlights for me. Clearly those scenes were repeated throughout the country and the feel-good factor has continued through the week.

Within the England camp we don't get to fully appreciate what is going on outside. But reading the papers you could get the impression that not only have we qualified for next year's World Cup finals, but as long as we turn up we will be world champions! For us, there has to be more of a sense of reality.

What happened on Saturday was magnificent and the lads who played will rightly be lauded for a long, long time.

Imagine the reaction, though, if we failed to beat Albania tonight.

As professionals, we can't get wrapped up in all the hype, great as it would be. Straight after Saturday's 5-1 victory the talk was about making sure we didn't slip up at St James's Park tonight. As Sven-Goran Eriksson has pointed out to us over the last couple of days, if we don't qualify for the finals, Saturday's result will be pretty meaningless.

The greatest significance of it in real terms, was to put us back in control of our own destiny.

One of the most impressive qualities of this squad is that they are used to dealing with success. If you look at the honours won last season by the players here it shows they are used to focusing on one big game after another.

Expectations are so high now that tonight's game will be mentally even harder than Munich. Everyone expects a victory and the lads will feel that if we can beat Germany so convincingly then what chance have Albania?

The trouble is that no two football matches are the same. Albania have nothing to lose, which always makes opponents dangerous. It is also unlikely they will throw men forward and leave themselves exposed at the back. Scoring a hatful of goals will be very unlikely.

I expect Albania to try to frustrate us, getting 10 men behind the ball and playing on the break. Nobody has scored freely against them in recent games. Our game in Tirana was a case in point where the 3-1 result possibly flattered us a little. It will call for a patient approach and concentration will be critical since we ought to have the lion's share of possession.

St James's Park should provide quite an atmosphere for tonight's match and I wonder what the Albanians will make of it.

It's certainly one of the most intimidating places you go to in the Premiership and I can still remember the opening game of the season a few years ago, when Aston Villa went up there.

Alan Shearer was sent off in the game and for the next five minutes it was absolute bedlam.

The Newcastle fans might have considered themselves slightly hard done by when they learned that England's game against Albania was earmarked for their stadium but now they have the opportunity of welcoming the lads home.

I really do believe that the decision to play the games around the country has really worked well.

There have been occasions in the past when matches like tonight's have lacked a little atmosphere at Wembley much in the same way as Saturday's game in Munich's Olympic Stadium with the running track around it, didn't really work in Germany's favour.

The squad remain very positive and confident but I it could be quite a tense game with Albania putting everyone behind the ball. If we score early on though, that could all change.

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Playing it cool as hype engulfs the nation

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