England fly to Euro 2012, Rooney talks up chances

In the new age of sobriety surrounding England, Wayne Rooney on Wednesday allowed himself a moment of intoxicating hope by declaring that this squad of players are good enough to reach the final of Euro 2012.

England arrived in Krakow yesterday evening with doubts remaining over John Terry's fitness. The defender again missed a full training session, conducted before the team flew out of Luton, to focus on recovery from a hamstring injury.

Rooney is suspended for the first two games against France and Sweden after his sending off in the final qualification tie away to Montenegro, but his inclusion in the squad was never a doubt for Fabio Capello or his successor Roy Hodgson and he remains optimistic.

"I think you go into a tournament hoping you can win it," the 26-year-old striker told the BBC's Football Focus. "That's the main thing. In the past two tournaments [World Cup 2006 and 2010], they've ended in disappointment. Now is the time to put that right."

Expectation, false hope, over-optimism - it has all affected England in recent years and there has been a studied attempt to downplay predictions ahead of this tournament, understandably so with predictions being chastened by experience.

That experience has been complicated further by the decision not to select Rio Ferdinand. Despite that cloud, Rooney's exuberance was clear, as well as his grasp of previous failures.

"We know as players that we've been expected to do better than we have done in recent years," he said. "We understand that when you play for England you're there to be shot at. We need to be sure we give our all and that when the tournament comes we try to win. If we do that and we're not good enough, then we'll hold our hands up.

"I don't see why we can't win it. We've certainly got the players and the quality. The new manager coming in has lifted everybody. As players, we know there's been a lot of changes to the squad and a lot of younger players given the opportunity.

"We expect big things of ourselves, to come out here and do well. If people don't expect that, it's down to them. As long as we expect it of ourselves, we know we're good enough to get to the semi-finals or the final, so that's the aim."

Rooney admitted his suspension was the "price I have to pay for making that mistake" in Podgorica but added that he would prepare and train as "normal" for the first two group matches and then hoped to repay the faith that Hodgson had shown in him with the England manager admitting he was "happy the expectations are more realistic".

He added: "That's certainly a good thing. Football players are under enormous pressure. They are young men under enormous pressure. As a coach you put them under that pressure and the nation and the general public do as well. I think players, everywhere, struggle to cope with that. One of the major conundrums for a coach of a top team to solve is when you might have the quality of player but have to make certain they have the mental strength or character to deal with all that's asked of them."

Despite the problems with this squad, through injuries and through the decision not to select Ferdinand, Hodgson said he believed he had a group of players who did not lack confidence.

"I wouldn't have thought any of my players lack that self-belief," he said. "The Manchester City players have just won the league for the first time since 1968, the Chelsea players have won the Champions League, the Manchester United players only lost the title on goal difference, the Everton players have had a fantastic season. I would expect all these players to have confidence and self-belief. If they don't, I'll ask then 'Why haven't you got it? If I was as good as you I'd have loads of self-belief'."

Hodgson refused to be drawn on what would be deemed as success in this tournament. "I don't like to quantify these things," he said. "It's important for us to enjoy the journey. I'm always disappointed at tournaments with the negativity that surrounds all the teams.

"I saw it in South Africa, at the Euro Championships I've attended with Uefa, at the World Cup [1994] with Switzerland. I've often come away with the feeling that I have not enjoyed it. The feelings have been very negative and people haven't seemed to enjoy it.

"It's a great thing to qualify for the European Championships. Only 16 teams are here out of more than 50 who started. You don't get many opportunities in your career to play in a major tournament and we've got to try to make certain we understand that it's not a bad thing to be here."