Parker revels in Euro opportunity

Scott Parker is thrilled at the prospect of representing England in a major tournament
7 June 2012

England midfielder Scott Parker has admitted it "means everything" to get the chance to appear at Euro 2012.

With the 23 members of Roy Hodgson's revised squad getting the all clear after suffering a series of niggles, in addition to Gary Cahill's fractured jaw, against Belgium on Saturday, Parker was able to take his place on the flight to Krakow.

Before that, there was the obligatory team photo and a short visit to the headquarters of team sponsors Vauxhall before making the journey to Luton Airport. For Parker, it is a new experience. He said: "I can't remember my last tournament. It is probably the European Under-21 Championships but they are so long ago I can't even remember how we did."

He added: "It is a massive gap that's for sure, so this tournament will be a very fulfilling experience in my career. It means everything really. It is all I ever wanted as a player and something I am really looking forward to."

In fact, England slumped out of that under-21 competition in 2002, ejected after the group phase despite winning their opening game against Switzerland.

After losing three experienced players - Cahill, Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard - over the past 10 days, and third choice keeper John Ruddy to injury just before that, few would be surprised if Roy Hodgson experienced similar disappointment in his first major tournament as national team boss.

Matters have not been helped by the row over Rio Ferdinand's non-selection, which the coach is still to address and is unlikely to until much nearer the opening game against France in Donetsk on Monday.

Laurent Blanc's men extended their unbeaten run to 21 by beating Estonia last night and after a catastrophic World Cup performance have once again emerged as one of Europe's strongest nations.

They have risen to 14th in the latest FIFA rankings and are favoured to finish above England in Group D, even though the Three Lions are now regarded as the sixth best team in the world.

Even Hodgson regards his side as underdogs. However, Parker does not feel England go into the game without hope. He said: "It will be a tough game, as it always is against France. France are a very good team full of talented individuals. We are going to have to be disciplined and strong defensively to nullify that."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

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