After Ireland’s exit from Group C everyone had an opinion on how bad the results were. But Robbie Fowler argues that after Spain’s Euro 2012 triumph the results have to be seen in context .

Ireland should take some comfort from Spain’s 4-0 win over Italy in the Euro 2012 final last night.

I remember when a 10-man Australian side got battered 4-0 by Germany in their opening game of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the media went to town Down Under.

They bounced back from that and drew 1-1 with Ghana in the next game and beat Serbia 2-1 to restore some national pride. It worked out okay for the Aussies and they’ll regroup and focus on the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

And I’m sure Ireland are probably in the same boat.

Everybody felt the results against Spain (lost 4-0) and Italy (lost 2-0) were terrible at the time but they both contested the final so those games have to be put in perspective.

Obviously, Ireland didn’t do themselves justice against these two top sides and they have every right to feel disappointed with their performances.

But Spain’s win over Italy in the Euro 2012 final showed what a difficult task they faced at the time.

England too need to look at themselves in a different light. Even though it ended in a draw and they lost on penalties they were outclassed against the Italians.

There were times when Italy dominated the game but just couldn’t score. Both Ireland and England can take a little bit of comfort – not that they will want to –that the results reflected where the sides were at that time in their development.

And it is now time to look forward to preparing for the World Cup qualifiers that start in September on the road to Brazil in 2014.

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Wayward Italian striker Mario Balotelli has silenced his critics with some memorable displays ahead of tonight’s Euro 2012 showdown with Spain and Robbie Fowler is impressed.

I’ve not been Mario Balotelli’s biggest fan but he’s winning me over with his performances heading into tonight’s final at Euro 2012.

If Italy are to beat the reigning champions Spain tonight then Balotelli is the one who will do it for them.

To be fair to the Manchester City striker he looks on song at the minute and it looks like the Balotelli that everyone raves about will turn up. Two great goals and a great performance against Germany in the semi-finals will have given him all the confidence he needs ahead of tonight’s test.

Whatever Italian manager Cesare Prandelli has said to him is obviously working – he looks on top of his game and focused.

He’s obviously got a little bit of devilment and a bit of a wayward streak in him but all great players have that characteristic.

He hasn’t always been the most reliable on the pitch – or off it – but now he’s working hard for the team, getting hold of the ball and scoring goals and he deserves a lot of credit.

He’s really won me over.

I don’t think anyone would have predicted a Spain v Italy final after the side’s drew 1-1 in their opening Group C encounter.

I think you’d struggle to find someone – outside of Italy anyway – who backed the Azzurri to win Euro 2012 after the problems they had in the build-up.

Spain really haven’t had a settled side under manager Vincente del Bosque but they’ve got the results and now they’re in the final. That’s the sign of a really good side.

The Spanish manager will probably start Cesc Fabregas up front in that ‘invisible No 9′ role and he could be good value to score first. I’d like Spain to win it and make history by becoming the first team to win three major championships in a row.

There won’t be too many goals though. For me, it’s a 1-0 win for Spain with Fabregas to get on the scoresheet.

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There were a lot words being thrown around as England lost to Italy on penalties. ‘Heart-breaking’ and ‘agony’ were a couple, but I wasn’t overly surprised. It was on the cards. I had my doubts about England getting out of the group and I was thankfully proven wrong about that, but not by much.

Everyone always looks to make sweeping changes after a premature exit from a tournament, but I wouldn’t be in a hurry to ship anyone out. Despite his advancing years, Steven Gerrard was England’s best player by far so you’d definitely want him around for the next World Cup. There were plenty of people waiting to bash John Terry if he had a bad tournament, but he also played really well. He got found out for pace a couple of times, but that’s always been the way with him. He was still making tackles, throwing himself in the way to block shots and he was really steady, so I wouldn’t be ushering him out of the squad either.

I’m struggling to think of too many young players banging on the door to get into the squad. I’ve heard great things about Jack Wilshere, but to be honest, I was over in Australia when he started to break through and I haven’t seen much of him. By all accounts, he’s an excellent player so he’ll presumably come into the squad when he’s fit.

The manager has a lot to think about when it comes to his starting XI, but it can’t see the make-up of the squad changing too much. Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck and Andy Carroll are young, so they’ll be around for the next few years. Ashley Cole is in his thirties now, but his fitness levels are high and he’ll be around for a few years to come.

Leighton Baines is pushing him hard, but Ashley Cole is a great player so you wouldn’t want to get rid of him just yet. Rio Ferdinand won’t be involved in future squads, but you’ve got Gary Cahill to come back and he’s got a lot to offer. I’d expect Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to feature more and Jordan Henderson will get more game time, but they’re already in the squad, so it’s not exactly wholesale changes.

The one area I would look at before the World Cup qualifiers begin is the formation. You want something that’s going to get the most out of Wayne Rooney. There was some criticism of his performances, but he didn’t go out to play badly and it was purely down to the lay-off he had coming in to the tournament. In hindsight, maybe you wouldn’t have played Rooney, but most people would surely agree that Hodgson was right to bring him. He’s been so good in the Premier League, you have to find a system that uses his skills to the maximum and that is the big challenge before September.

The circumstances of Roy Hodgson’s appointment to the job meant this tournament was always going to be used as a stepping stone for Brazil 2014 and now he has to back that up. Losing on penalties again is a horrible way to go out, but at least we were good enough to take Italy to penalties. Expectations were so low heading into the tournament, that it feels like small success. There’s work to be done, but as we go into the qualifiers, I’m confident will make it to Brazil and then we’ll see if we’ve learned much from this tournament.

There’s nothing genetic or inherent in the English players that makes them bad in penalty shoot-outs. It’s the toss of a coin and freakishly that toss of a coin has gone against us far more often than not. No-one goes out to miss a penalty. It’s not possible to legislate for that. I read about Hodgson getting the players to practice penalties in training, but it’s of limited value. Some players can hold their nerve better than others and it’s not a skill you can teach. It’s something you work on through experience and hopefully the next time England take penalties, these players will feel more comfortable. Practising penalties in training and doing it in the stadium in front of thousands of people are worlds apart and there’s very few opportunities to practise when there’s something massively important riding on it. Hopefully the experience will stand some of the players in good stead in the future.

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Germany have been fantastic so far at Euro 2012. What impresses me most is the confidence running through the squad. To be able to change three key players for a European Championship quarter-final and for the team to still perform as well as they did against Greece is remarkable. They did concede two goals, but that was at a point when the game was won, so I wouldn’t read too much into that. The professionalism and ability to navigate tournament football you always associate with Germany is still there and when it’s combined with the talent of this generation of players, it sets some high standards. They seem to be getting better in every single game.

It took penalties for Italy to beat England, but it was obvious to everybody who the better team was. It was a strange game. With a couple of great chances in the first few minutes, it looked like it was going to be a cracking end to end game, but Italy dominated and apart from some brief spells, England didn’t offer much. They won’t be able to dominate the Germans in the same way. I wonder how they’ll approach Germany. They were happy to have a go at England, but for this one, Prandelli might look at reverting to having his players sit deeper and counter-attack. They’re playing good football and in Andrea Pirlo, they’ve got a Player of the Tournament candidate. I wasn’t expecting much from Italy, but they’ve surprised me and I do like watching them at the moment.

Again, Mario Balotelli is a name on a lot of people’s lips and not necessarily for the right reasons. He has managed one goal from 21 attempts at the tournament and you’d expect a better return from a player of his quality. Plus you get the impression he’s never far away from boiling over. He caused England problems, but there times when he also looked a bit laboured. His temperament is always going to be suspect and it’s possibly not what you want in a game like a European Championship semi-final, but Prandelli clearly has some faith in him and his ability to pull something out of the bag make him worth including from the start.

I’ve been tipping Germany for the tournament from a long way out and although I’ve been impressed by Italy, that’s not going to change. I can’t see Germany getting beaten. They’re too powerful, pacey and professional to mess it up. Maybe they don’t have too many outstanding individuals, but they’re a solid team. My one concern is Jerome Boateng at right back, but he’s the only notable weakness in the team.

I can’t look beyond Mario Gomez to score the first goal at 9/2. He had the luxury of being rested in the last game and now with two possible games left in his season, I’m sure we’re going to get a huge effort from him. He’s been in good form, we know Germany will create chances and he’ll put at least one of them away against Italy.

I’m going for Germany to win 2-0 at 7/1. Italy created some good chances against England and didn’t score. They won’t manufacture many chances against this German team and I don’t think they’ll get on the scoresheet. The Germans are just too strong to let an opportunity like this slip through their fingers.

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I know it sounds stupid, but Portugal are playing the better football at the moment. When Cristiano Ronaldo is in full flow, they’re almost unstoppable. In the last couple of game, Ronaldo has been different class and it’s translated into some very good performances from the team. He’s been the standout performer at Euro 2012. With his pace and strength, he scares defenders. Every time he gets the ball you expect something to happen, regardless of the opponent.

The Spanish defenders aren’t going to be as accommodating as some of the defenders he has come up against so far. They know him inside out – in some cases as a team-mate and in others as regular rival. But that works both ways. They might think they know what he’s going to do, but equally he’ll know what Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique struggle with and attack that aspect of their games.

There’s no doubt that Ronaldo is a selfish player, but you can’t knock him for that. It’s part of the reason why he’s such a good player. The managers he’s had have recognised that and allowed him to get away with it. They can set up their teams to compensate for any mistakes he makes and it’s worth doing because he is that good.

To be honest, I feel a bit sorry for him just because Lionel Messi is so good. Messi gets all the plaudits and Ronaldo gets far less recognition, even though he’s right up there in terms of talent. Outside the game, Ronaldo is a handsome man and a marketing dream and sometimes people mistake that with cockiness. Sometimes, the best players need to be cocky. It’s hard to criticise him for it because he always backs it up on the pitch.

The Spanish manager, Vicente Del Bosque has said he plans to stop Ronaldo “with a lasso”, but I’ve got feeling his game plan will revolve around stopping the ball getting to Ronaldo rather than Ronaldo himself. If they manage to cut off the supply to him, I can’t see anything else other than a Spanish win. They work so hard to get the ball back, they could easily stop the ball getting to him.

Spain are claiming a lot of possession, but when it comes to creating chances, they haven’t been great at this tournament. When it comes to creating scoring opportunities, Portugal have been better. Spain again went without a striker against France. I’m not a fan of that, but it’s worked and you feel a bit stupid arguing against it when it’s doing the job.

When you have a player not used to playing the striker role, they tend to come deep looking for the ball. Sometimes it makes the midfield very packed and actually clogs up Spain’s flowing football. You need the forwards to stretch your opponents and make the pitch bigger. If they play Cesc Fabregas up front, he will drop deep and it could turn the game into a bit of a midfield battle.

It’s a local derby, but I’ve also fancied Spain to do well at the tournament and they’ll be too strong for Portugal. If Ronaldo doesn’t have a good game, then Portugal don’t have a good game. Nani plays in fits and starts and Meireles has shown he’s a classy player, but it’s not going to be enough against this Spanish side. I’d expect both teams to score, so I’d look at a 2-1 Spain correct score bet.

As for a goalscorer, I’d go for a Spanish player, but I couldn’t pick one. Del Bosque said the Spanish plan was to have each one of his front six contribute a goal or two over the course of the tournament and that’s how it’s working out. I’m struggling to pick out any individual, but Spain will score first.

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There’s been some talk of Andy Carroll being better suited to taking on the Italian defence than Danny Welbeck and it’s obvious why. Having someone who can hold the ball up is important. I like Carroll and I can see the logic, but I can’t see Roy Hodgson breaking up the Rooney/Welbeck partnership for the Euro 2012 quarter-final. Rooney was in the right place at the right time for the tap against the Ukraine, but apart from that he didn’t have a good game. It’s understandable after a long lay-off from competitive action, but he needs to click into gear now.

England haven’t been great in this tournament, but they’ve been professional and they’re getting results. Roy Hodgson deserves immense credit for quietly going about his business. The Sweden game was a prime example. The Swedes caused us a lot of problems, but Roy made one or two changes during the course of the game and England managed to grind out the win. It was a similar story against Ukraine when we started badly, but eventually go it together and defended brilliantly to get the result. It wasn’t spectacular, but it’s a nice habit to have.

There were times against Sweden when England were a little too gung-ho and they can’t afford to do that against Italy. They’ve got some quality players who can pick a pass and split defences in an instant. But on paper, I’d see the English players as being slightly better. Anyone is free to disagree with me on that, but our players are regularly coming up against the best players in the world at club level, so my expectation levels are always high.

The Italians have mirrored England in many ways. They’ve been steady and professional so far. Before the tournament, I wouldn’t have touched Italy with a betting barge pole. Their results in the pre-competition friendlies were poor and although some of it was down to experimentation from the manager, it looked really worrying. They’ve really over-performed compared to people’s expectations and I’ve enjoyed watching them. They’ve got a couple of real world class stars.

Pirlo is just fantastic. He can pass, he can shot, he orchestrates things from the middle of the park so well. Balotelli is an enigma. Like Forest Gump’s box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get. But when he’s on form, he’s excellent, so you can’t switch off against him. Di Natale is a very clinical finisher, so they do have a strong attacking threat.

At times, I’ve struggled to see what everyone else sees in Balotelli. He can good, but I’ve seen him so many times when he looks like he can’t be bothered. I’d be tempted to start him on the bench for the simple reason when he comes on as a sub, he always looks like he has something to prove. He’s unbelievable on his day, but we haven’t seen too many of those days.

From all I’ve seen, I’m tipping England for this one. I’m a big believer in momentum and they’re unbeaten so far in the tournament. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion it might be England going through after extra-time. I can’t see too many goals and I could well imagine it being a draw after normal time. England to win 2-1 after extra time would be my shout. As for a goalscorer, Steven Gerrard has been brilliant and I’d love to see him get a goal as reward for all his assists.

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Throughout this tournament, Spain haven’t got the credit they deserve. I know in theory at one point in the final group game they were only one goal from going out, but I like how they performed. They’re a victim of their own success because every team they come up against defend very deep. For all their passing and movement, sometimes it’s just hard to break down, but they have found a way most of the time.

France have the potential to be tricky opponents, but I can’t see them sitting back and playing the type of game they need to smother Spain. They like to attack and probably won’t play as deep as some of the other teams we’ve seen against Spain.

Apart from the Ireland match, Spain don’t score a lot of goals. That’s the price you pay for using six midfielders and no out and out striker. They’ve tried using Fabregas in the – to invent a new position – ‘behind the invisible front man’ role, but they look better when they’ve played Torres. I know Cesc scored a lovely goal against Ireland, but I’d go with Torres.

His movement alone creates space for others, so even if he doesn’t get a goal, he’s still doing some good work for the team. If you don’t have a striker on the shoulder of a defender, it can make the pitch very compact for the midfield, so I’d like to see more of Torres. We’re at the point in the tournament when you need to go for it and Torres makes Spain a more threatening team.

The concern as ever is the Spanish defence. They have given up some great chances already in this tournament. Karim Benzema hasn’t scored yet and that’s because he’s playing too far away from goal. As a forward, you should be getting most of your chances in and around the penalty area and at the moment, he looks like he wants to score the spectacular goals. I know the feeling. Sometimes in games you’re being marked very tightly and your instinct is to go looking for the ball. But you’re almost always better being a bit selfless and sacrificing your own personal performance for the team. He needs to stop dropping back into midfield, stay higher up the pitch and give the Spanish defence a problem.

I can’t see past Spain in this one. Ireland aside, they’re not scoring a whole lot of goals, but they’re doing enough. I also liked France coming into the tournament, but I didn’t expect to meet Spain so early on. Spain will win this by the odd goal, either 1-0 or 2-1.

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Germany play Greece in the second quarter-final of Euro 2012 in a game that holds particular interest for England fans as they will face the winner here if they overcome Italy on Sunday night. Paddy Power columnist Robbie Fowler believes Germany are certainties to win.

This might sound silly seeing as it’s the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 – but this could be Germany’s easiest game so far.

They came through three tough Group B games against Portugal, Holland and Denmark with flying colours and are the only unbeaten side left in the competition. Germany, as we’ve come to expect, have gone about the job brilliantly and deserve to be strong favourites here.

It’s very simple, the further they go in tournaments, the better they get.

To be fair to Greece though, they have exceeded everybody’s expectations in the competition.

They drew 1-1 against Poland in the opening game after having a man sent off and did well to come back and share the points. You can’t argue with their 1-0 win over Russia it was a great result for them to get through Group A.

This is a big step up in class though against a German side who have not performed spectacularly but just always get the job done. I can’t see Greece causing them too many problems especially with midfielder Giorgos Karagounis missing.

He’s a big player for them. It’s going to be tough for Greece to contain a German side who are used to taking the lead and getting a result  from there. They won’t go all out attack, everyone will just keep working for the team and their play-makers will keep making chances for Gomez or Klose or whoever plays up front.

They mightn’t have a prolific goalscorer upfront as such but they have goal-scoring threats all over the pitch with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mesut Ozil pulling the strings.

Their defence is strong too – I just can’t see where the Greek goal-threat will come from.

For me it’s Germany to win 2-0 with Gomez to score at anytime during the match.

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The business end of Euro 2012 starts tonight as Portugal take on the Czech Republic in the first quarter-final. While the Czechs have done well to advance Paddy Power columnist Robbie Fowler believes Ronaldo and Nani will have too much firepower for them tonight.

Cristiano Ronaldo has Portugal’s fate in his hands tonight in the first quarter-final of Euro 2012 against the Czech Republic.

Teams have had the chance to recover from poor shows in the Group Stages but there’s no margin for error now.  

Ronaldo is often a victim of his own success. He performs to such a high standard there’s so much expected of him all the time.

But he can’t be brilliant in every game. It’s impossible.

Everything fell in to place for him against the Dutch and I think his class is beginning to shine through now.

Nani came into the tournament struggling with an injury but improved against the Dutch. His work rate against them was magnificent and he really put in a shift.

In the past he’s tried the flicks and tricks and was maybe more concerned about his own game rather than where he fitted into the team’s performance.

But you couldn’t even fault his defending the other night which is not something you would have said about him too often in the past.

As for the Czech Republic, I was shocked after their 4-1 defeat by Russia in their Group A opener. They deserve respect for the way they’ve come back well from that defeat and have defended very well in the other games.

The Czechs will set their stall out to defend and maybe try to hit Portugal on the break. But if the Portuguese start attacking early and get a goal then it will open up the game a bit more because the Czechs will have to come out of their comfort zone and push forward. 

If Portugal get an early goal than that may make it a better game to watch for the neutrals.

Then the Czechs will start to leave holes at the back as they chase an equaliser and that’s where Nani and Ronaldo will punish them.

I fancy Ronaldo to get among the goals tonight and Portugal to advance to the semi-final stage by a 3-1 scoreline.

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England face Italy in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 and expectations are rising. A disallowed Ukranian goal, Wayne Rooney’s return and Steven Gerrard’s form are all under the microscope. Paddy Power’s columnist Robbie Fowler has his say…

As an England fan I’m not complaining – but the fifth official that didn’t award the Ukraine a goal last night shouldn’t be in a job. How he has not seen it I do not know. He should not be working again in that job because he’s not very good at it. Things happen quickly in football, I know, but that was bad.

I could clearly see that Marko Devic had scored from my position in a TV booth but he was only five yards away from it and didn’t give it. The ball was clearly over the line. I knew straight away it had crossed the line. FIFA have got to get control of these situations.

Everybody wants goal-line technology because football is such big business. These situations cost clubs, countries and supporters. Having said that, England deserved to win against Ukraine and they were very professional. They were quite comfortable in the end, without looking brilliant.

It was good to see Wayne Rooney back. You’ve got to give him credit because of the pressure he was under to perform on his return.

But for me, Steven Gerrard is England’s best player. He’s controlled games. He’s worked hard and he’s had a hand in the goal but his all-round game is top-class.

The manager Roy Hodgson deserves credit too. Whatever he’s doing is working and England can look forward to the Italy game on Sunday with confidence.

I’m quietly confident. England have surprised people.

And if we get through against Italy, everyone will look forward to meeting the Germans and beating them. But we’ll take it one game at a time.

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Roy Hodgson has some tough choices to make with all eyes on Wayne Rooney as England look to beat Ukraine and secure a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012. Paddy Power’s columnist Robbie Fowler has his say…

Wayne Rooney is  a fantastic player who has a bit of everything. That includes a nasty streak but sometimes the best players have it. His temperament and mentality can flare at any time.

But he is learning and getting better every season. He was only booked once in the Premier League last season. You’d never think that of Wayne Rooney because of what he’s done in the past.

I was probably more famous for scoring goals but I like to think I did okay outside the box, which is what Rooney is very, very good at. England will be better tonight for him being in the side.

His goals-per-game ratio is also top class. In 365 games for Manchester United he’s scored 182 goals. For England, it’s 28 goals in 74 appearances. 

RED DEVIL: Wayne Rooney was the only person surprised at this red card vs Portugal (pic: Inpho)

Andy Carroll did reasonably well against Sweden. He scored a great goal and his hold-up play was good, which is something that England need. Danny Wellbeck didn’t do it in the opening game. I wouldn’t be averse to playing Carroll up front with Rooney playing in behind and Ashley Young and maybe Theo Walcott out wide.

That’d give you pace down both flanks, Wayne playing in the hole and a big man in Carroll up front. Rooney can get you a goal from anywhere.

• Euro 2012 betting: Money-Back if Rooney scores anytime against France

Paddy Power’s Euro 2012 columnist Robbie Fowler thinks Wayne Rooney will replace Andy Carroll against Ukraine.

Roy Hodgson will bring in Wayne Rooney for Andy Carroll against the Ukraine on Tuesday night.

Andy did alright against Sweden and he scored a great header but with Wayne now available after his two-game suspension it’s hard to see how he can be left out.

Danny Wellbeck has played the two games he’s missed but he hasn’t really set the world alight so there’s no one you could say really deserves to be the number one pick.

No one has really stood out for England up front but Rooney is a cert to come back in and England will be a better team for it.

The good thing about England is they haven’t lost a game. It was a tough game against Sweden and we knew it was going to be hard.

I was not overly impressed with the way England played to be honest.

In the first game, admittedly they never looked great against France but they looked as though they were strong and compact.

That went out the window against Sweden. At times they were a little bit gung-ho which I didn’t really like and I thought the game was quite stretched.

Sweden scored two against us and they’re not the strongest team at the Euros. It doesn’t bode too well for when they play against one of the better teams.

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Paddy Power’s Euro 2012 columnist Robbie Fowler argues that Andy Carroll can be the main man for England against Sweden by following the lead of a hero of 1996.

I think it’s a great move by Roy Hodgson to include Andy Carroll tonight against Sweden.

Andy needs to go back to doing what he does best causing teams handfuls by being a good, old-fashioned English centre forward. Backing into play, playing to his strengths. Using his height. Using his elbows, and I don’t really mean that in a bad way.

I’ve said before that he needs to be a little less Messi and more like Shearer.

Let the Swedes start worrying about Andy and England rather than us worrying about them. We got a good draw against France but the team set its stall out a little too defensively. We a big striker we have more options to play it long or whip in crosses from the wings.

Ashley Young should use his pace down the flanks to better effect out wide and while Jamie Milner isn’t as quick he can deliver accurate crosses.

If the Swedish defenders start worrying so much about Andy, it’ll take his mind off his own game. If Andy’s pushing him, shoving him, a few little elbows. Nothing malicious. Just let the defenders know they’re in for a game.

If he’s winning his own battle —that creates chances for his team-mates and I still think Steven Gerrard still has the engine to get into the box and finish any knock-downs.

He can’t do it every minute but if Andy’s causing havoc he’ll try to get on the end of things rather than making exhausting shuttle runs when the ball flies back over your head just as you arrive in the danger area.

GOOD TOUCH FOR A BIG MAN: That’s the cliche, but he does

Carroll came to Liverpool for a £35m fee and he tried to be a £35m player.

He was trying too much. He was dropping deep. Trying to beat men. Shooting from ridiculous distances. But towards the end of the season, the penny dropped.

He was showing defenders they were in for a game. At the start of the season he wasn’t doing that — by the end of the Premier League Andy was doing the simple stuff, brilliantly. Like in the FA Cup Final against Chelsea.

I’m not his size, and I wasn’t that type of a player. Alan Shearer used to do it — let defenders know they were in for a game. Andy Carroll has got to follow Shearer’s example in this tournament. Don’t forget how good Shearer was. He finished Euro 96 as top scorer with five goals.

• England v Sweden match betting
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I said before the France game I’d be happy with a draw. France were good and England defended well, as you’d expect from a Roy Hodgson team. At times they defended too deep and invited the French on too much, but they did what they had to do and limited the clear chances against high quality players. They combated the French style very well and took the lead. If they’d managed to hold on to that lead until half time, they could well have got more than a point, but I’m happy enough with the draw.

Starting with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was a bit of a surprise, but he did well. He looked confident, wasn’t overawed by the occasion, beat a few players and did his defensive duties very well. Overall he did very well. He wasn’t England’s best player, but he was far from the worst either. Roy Hodgson deserves credit. He has a reputation of being conservative and predictable, but he surprised a lot of people by putting in Oxlade-Chamberlain and it puts England in good stead.

Goals are going to be a problem against Sweden. As well as they defended, they weren’t great going forward. They’ve got pace and if they can use it more effectively, they’ll carry more of an attacking threat and create more chances. We’re set up not to concede goals and once you do that, you’ve half a chance of getting a result. It’s not ideal and it’s not the easiest on the eye, but when you want to win trophies, sometimes you need to use whatever means are at your disposal.

THE ROY WONDER – Roy Hodgson deserves credit

Sweden showed they were vulnerable from set-pieces against Ukraine, but that’s not enough of a reason to bring in Andy Carroll from the start. There’s more to football than set-pieces and I can’t see Hodgson making changes based solely on the Swedes’ defending. You want to go out and win by playing good football. There will be times later on in a game when you need a goal and you’ll bring someone on for set-pieces, but I’d hate to see that happen from the start.

Danny Welbeck did alright without being exceptional. He’s not great at holding the ball up and with the formation England play, they need a player who is capable of doing that. If we are going to utilise a target man, then it’s a role that suits Andy Carroll more than Welbeck. Welbeck has the pace and is more mobile than Carroll. The two of them have very different attributes and it’s good to have that variety. Now it’s just a matter of getting the right player in there to suit whatever style Hodgson goes with.

It’s presumed that England will show more attacking ambition against Sweden and Ukraine, but Hodgson won’t change much. If there was a more attacking inclination, then presumably we would have seen more of it in the friendlies. Against Sweden, the formation will stay the same and the tactics will stay the same. The Swedes obviously lost, but you could see how good they could be going forward and England need to be set up top cope with that.

IT SAINT HAPPENING – Sean St. Ledger rues Ireland’s defeat to Croatia

It’s looking bleak for Ireland. I fancied them to beat Croatia, but Slaven Bilic set his team up perfectly and they fully deserved their win. They made Ireland look very ordinary. You can’t say the Irish players let their manager down because you never go into a game expecting to underperform, but it never happened for Ireland. They didn’t get the breaks and I wouldn’t make too many changes. Giovanni Trapattoni picked what he thought was the best team available from his squad, but sometimes it just doesn’t go your way. The Irish players will want to give a better performance in the next couple of games, especially for all the great fans who made the trip. They’ll improve, but I can’t see it being enough to keep them in the tournament.

There’s not much more to be said about the difficultly Ireland face in their next two games. Spain played well against Italy, but wasted a few good chances. Sadly, they’ve got the players to rectify that against Ireland and I can see Spain winning that one.

• Money-Back if Gerrard scores v Sweden
• Robbie Fowler on Andy Carroll

Being honest with you, Roy Hodgson wasn’t my choice for England manger. I wanted Harry Redknapp, like about 80 per cent of the English public. But Hodgson is there now and we’re all going to get behind him. On paper, the squad doesn’t look so bad, but we all know good and well that paper teams don’t win tournaments.

It was good to see Danny Welbeck scoring against Belgium. That will give him much-needed confidence and that’s everything for a striker. Because although Welbeck and Jermain Defoe started the last Premier League season well, their form dwindled. The form of this England team is not unbelievable. And many people are saying there are less expectations of this England team. I don’t agree with that.

MAIN MAN: But without Rooney for the first two games, England will struggle

Any tournament we go into, England are one of the favourites, whether you like that or not. It’s the way it is. If the players keep putting themselves down, saying there’s not a lot expected, that’s only good for them. The public thinks they’ll still do well. For me, they’ll struggle.

Scoring goals without Wayne Rooney for the first two games could be England’s big problem. Welbeck is not prolific. Andy Carroll is not prolific. He finished the season superbly and was a handful for Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. But missing Rooney, who is by far England’s best player, they are going to struggle.

Rooney is the man to score the goals. His form for Manchester United was good. He’s banned of course, for the first two games, but he’s rightly in the squad because England expects to progress through the group. For everybody’s sake I hope they do, because every major tournament deserves to see a player like Wayne Rooney.

Ukraine have home advantage. Sweden are England’s bogey team. England got their first win against Sweden since 1968 in a 1-0 victory at Wembley last November. We always seem to do badly against them. It kills me to say it, but England will struggle to get out of this group. France will win the group. England will have a fight to finish second.

As for tonight. It’s a huge game. The French team look strong all over the pitch. The England team have a lot of injuries. To beat France every England player needs to be top of his game. I’d settle for a draw. But I’m thinking 1-0, or 2-0 to France.

• Money-Back if England beat France
• Robbie Fowler on Andy Carroll