Euro 2012: ‘Captaincy has brought the best out of Steven Gerrard’

Glen Johnson believes his Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard has thrived under the pressure of captaining England at the European championship.

The 32-year-old midfielder has been one of England’s star performers, providing the assist for Joleon Lescott’s header against France, teeing up Andy Carroll in their 3-2 victory over Sweden, and helping Wayne Rooney end a run of 653 minutes without a goal in a major tournament.

“Steven has been a fantastic player for many, many years, but with the armband I think he feels he needs to step up just that tiny bit more, and I think he’s done it more than anyone so far,” said Johnson.

England set up a quarter-final tie against 2006 World Cup winners Italy after Rooney’s second-half winner in their final Group D match ensured Roy Hodgson’s side finished in first place and avoided defending champions Spain.

But the 27-year-old Liverpool defender is that adamant all of the nations in the last eight are good enough to claim the Euro 2012 title.

“Any team in the tournament has got a chance of winning it,” he added.

“The first objective was to get out of the group, we did that very well by winning the group, so now it’s a one-off game and in a one-off game you can beat anyone.”

Pre-match facts: Italy v England

• England have not taken part in this tournament since 2004 thanks to their failure in Euro 2008 qualifying. Home and away losses to Slaven Biliš’s Croatia and a defeat by Russia in Moscow proved costly as Steve McClaren’s men finished third behind their conquerors.

• England’s overall European championship record is a tale of disappointment. Their 2008 setback was the fifth time they had failed to reach the finals, and they have had just two semi-final places (1968, 1996) from the seven final tournaments for which they have qualified.

• To underline the point England head to Poland and Ukraine as the only European winners of the World Cup who have not won the European championship – Italy (1968), Germany (1972, 1980, 1996), France (1984, 2000) and current holders Spain have all done so, but England have yet to reach the final of the competition.

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