miércoles, 2 de mayo de 2012

Hodgson hired to coach England football - Pakistan Observer

LondonRoy Hodgson was hired as Englands oldest national team coach Tuesday, six weeks before the European Championship.

The 64-year-old West Bromwich Albion manager signed a four-year deal, taking him through to the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016, the Football Association said.

It is the most important job in English football ... and a privilege to take the job, said Hodgson, who will leave West Brom at the end of the season on May 13 to lead England into the Euros in Poland and Ukraine.

He succeeds Fabio Capello, the Italian who quit in February in a dispute with the FA after John Terry was stripped of the captaincy.

The FA overlooked the favorite, Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, to hire a manager who has won eight league titles in two countries with three clubs and coached the national teams of Switzerland, Finland and the United Arab Emirates. Lets hope we can get everybody behind us and make certain that we work as a team and help the team get the results everyone in England expects and wants, Hodgson said. Hodgson has had stints in club soccer in England, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Italy, where he was twice in charge of Inter Milan.

His knowledge of international football is unquestionable, FA chairman David Bernstein said.

England has an exhibition against Norway in Oslo on May 26 and a home match against Belgium a week later before a 23-man squad heads to the Euro 2012 base in Krakow, Poland.

Englands group stage opener is against France on June 11 in Donetsk, Ukraine, followed by matches against Sweden and Ukraine. Hodgson was able to rebuild his reputation at West Brom after a stormy six months at Liverpool blemished his record.

Hodgsons lowest points at Liverpool, where he was jeered by fans, should prepare him for the demands and intensity faced in the pressure-packed England job where expectations exceed reality for a team without a major title since the 1966 World Cup.AP

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