Video by Fectrap
It looked like Everton youngster Ross Barkley had done all the hard work as he shucked, jived and faked his way through the Ecuador defense, but when his pass found newly recruited Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert just inside the edge of the area, the finish the England man applied to beat the diving South American ‘keeper wasn’t something you’d turn your nose up at.
The Three Lion’s may have stumbled to a 2-2 draw — with Raheem Sterling send off ten minutes from time for good measure — when all was said and done, but at the end of the day, England boss Roy Hodgson would have been happy to see Merseyside natives Lambert and Rooney get on the board for his experimental side.
With a dream £4mil move to Anfield secured last week, the former Liverpool trainee was handed the chance to lead the line with Rooney, the more high profile of the two, pushed out wide. The Manchester United man may have opened the scoring, pulling his country back on level terms after Ecuador took a surprisingly lead, but Lambert’s go-ahead early in the second half showed the kind of predatory instincts that former boss Gil Prescott saw in him while he was plying his trade in the lower echelons of English football.
“He just had that desire, playing was more important to Rickie at the time, he was desperate to play” said Prescott when asked about giving the striker, who had been released by both Liverpool and Blackpool, a chance. “When we took him I didn’t play him initially but I said the higher he goes the better he will become and people looked at me as if I was an idiot. I just knew once he got into a higher level he would show people he is really capable. If he pulls the trigger that right foot is like a siege gun.”
Yesterday it looked a bit more like a lazer guided missle…
