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Nobody believed in us but now we're hitting top gear, roars Gerrard after Ukraine victory
Posted Wednesday, June 20, 2012 by Dailymail

Steven Gerrard believes England are slowly hitting form at the right time after securing top spot in Group D with a 1-0 defeat of Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine.

Gerrard provided the assist as the returning Wayne Rooney headed home from point-blank range for the winner just after half-time and he feels an unheralded squad can continue to improve. England now face Italy in the quarter-final on Sunday.

He told ITV1: 'It was a difficult group and the idea was to try and win it. No-one believed in us at the start but we're gaining momentum at the right time.

Nobody believed in us but now we're hitting top gear, roars Gerrard after Ukraine victory
Going through: Gerrard celebrates with Joe Hart and Co after England's win against Ukraine

'I don't think tonight's performance was fantastic, but we stuck together, got the job done and won 1-0 against a good team.

'We've been criticised in the past maybe for not turning up, under-performing and we can take that, we're man enough. But you saw a reaction.

'When you get criticised it's not nice and you have to react by playing better and I think that's what we did.'

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Standings
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    Cities & Stadiums

    The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments

    Year Winners Runner-up Third place
    2008SpainGermanyRussia / Turkey
    2004GreecePortugalNetherlands / Czech Republic
    2000FranceItalyNetherlands / Portugal
    1996GermanyCzech RepublicFrance / England
    1992DenmarkGermanyNetherlands / Sweden
    1988NetherlandsSoviet UnionItaly / West Germany
    1984FranceSpainDenmark / Portugal
    1980West GermanyBelgiumCzechoslovakia
    1976CzechoslovakiaWest GermanyNetherlands
    1972West GermanySoviet UnionBelgium
    1968ItalyYugoslaviaEngland
    1964SpainSoviet UnionHungary
    1960Soviet UnionYugoslaviaCzechoslovakia