FIFA World Cup: England played well, but we were unlucky, says Sturridge

England striker Daniel Sturridge believes that his side should draw encouragement from their opening World Cup defeat by Italy as they begin preparations for Thursday's pivotal clash with Uruguay

Rio de Janeoro: England striker Daniel Sturridge believes that his side should draw encouragement from their opening World Cup defeat by Italy as they begin preparations for Thursday's pivotal clash with Uruguay.


37th min: England forward Daniel Sturridge (in white) scores the equaliser against Italy at the Amazonia Arena in Manaus on Saturday. Pic/AFP 

"It's important we continue playing the way we did against Italy," said the Liverpool striker, who netted an equaliser for England in Saturday's Group D game in Manaus, only for Mario Balotelli to give Italy a 2-1 win. "I thought we played very well. It was just unfortunate.

There were two very good sides out there, but they got the breaks and we didn't." Another loss to Uruguay in Sao Paulo will jeopardise Roy Hodgson's side's chances of reaching the last 16, but Sturridge feels that their display against Italy proved they are on the right track.

"We played some good football and worked very hard as a team and created a lot of chances. We just lost the game. We're disappointed because we deserved something out of the game, but sometimes you don't get the breaks you want to get."

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