HOW TEDIOUS IS THIS GETTING?

Last updated : 30 May 2006 By Ed
With less than two weeks to go and all the World Cup hype still around Wayne Rooney's broken foot Rio felt the need to point out the quality in the England squad. And he even managed to sound cittiesque while doing it.

"At the moment, everyone is harping on about Wayne and, in some respects, rightly so, because he is a fantastic player and an asset to the squad on and off the pitch.

"But I think we feel as a squad, looking around the changing room, that we have got players who are more than capable of coming into the side and doing a fantastic job for the team.

"Of course, Wayne is a massive player, one who would be an asset to any team in the world, and a massive story but, as a squad, that doesn't make the rest of us feel any less as players - individually or collectively.

"Can we win the World Cup without Wayne? Yes, why not? We've got fantastic players. When you look at this squad in detail, in terms of match-winners, this squad has got the most match-winners of any I've been involved in.

"You've got people who can drag a game by the scruff of the neck and win it for you at any given time from normal play or via a dead ball situation."