England midfielder Frank Lampard says he will not shirk from his penalty taking duties at the World Cup finals.
Doubts had emerged over Lampard's position as England's premier spot-kick taker after the Chelsea star saw an effort saved in the friendly win over Japan.
Reports had indicated striker Wayne Rooney had tried to oust his team-mate from the responsibility, but Lampard refuted such suggestions.
Lampard also missed a penalty in the Blues' FA Cup final against Portsmouth, uncharacteristically dragging his effort wide.
But the 31-year-old said he would remain in charge should his side be awarded a penalty, insisting he still retained belief in his ability to hit the net.
"Wayne hasn't made an issue of it. Actually, he hasn't said anything. No-one has," said Lampard.
"I heard the manager had said I was still the penalty taker and I am happy with that. I still have the confidence. It is a fact of life that you can miss occasionally.
"I missed in a friendly, which was a little reminder. I will practise them here and go back to basics a bit.
"Despite what has happened I am very confident with myself. I have the inner strength to take it on the chin. When I pick up the ball I believe that I will score."
Lampard's attempts to fire England to glory will be done with the tournament's controversial 'Jabulani' ball, which has come under criticism from various players in the build-up to the campaign.
The altitude of some of the matches in South Africa has also added to the perceived difficulties facing the competition's hopefuls, however Lampard believes it will not prove to be problematic.
He did, however, join the many to voice their opinion on the much-maligned ball, saying the flight could cause extremes between successful strikes and misses.
He said: "The altitude won't be a problem. In terms of the breathing and how it saps your energy, I haven't noticed too much difference to Austria.
"There is a bit of heat out here as well but we will become accustomed to that and it won't be an issue."
On the ball, he added: "But the ball moving around will be an issue because it moves a lot more. The goalkeepers will tell you that.
"You can see it when you strike the ball. There are going to be a lot more spectacular goals and could even be a lot more spectacular misses with the way the ball moves about."
Doubts had emerged over Lampard's position as England's premier spot-kick taker after the Chelsea star saw an effort saved in the friendly win over Japan.
Reports had indicated striker Wayne Rooney had tried to oust his team-mate from the responsibility, but Lampard refuted such suggestions.
Lampard also missed a penalty in the Blues' FA Cup final against Portsmouth, uncharacteristically dragging his effort wide.
But the 31-year-old said he would remain in charge should his side be awarded a penalty, insisting he still retained belief in his ability to hit the net.
"Wayne hasn't made an issue of it. Actually, he hasn't said anything. No-one has," said Lampard.
"I heard the manager had said I was still the penalty taker and I am happy with that. I still have the confidence. It is a fact of life that you can miss occasionally.
"I missed in a friendly, which was a little reminder. I will practise them here and go back to basics a bit.
"Despite what has happened I am very confident with myself. I have the inner strength to take it on the chin. When I pick up the ball I believe that I will score."
Lampard's attempts to fire England to glory will be done with the tournament's controversial 'Jabulani' ball, which has come under criticism from various players in the build-up to the campaign.
The altitude of some of the matches in South Africa has also added to the perceived difficulties facing the competition's hopefuls, however Lampard believes it will not prove to be problematic.
He did, however, join the many to voice their opinion on the much-maligned ball, saying the flight could cause extremes between successful strikes and misses.
He said: "The altitude won't be a problem. In terms of the breathing and how it saps your energy, I haven't noticed too much difference to Austria.
"There is a bit of heat out here as well but we will become accustomed to that and it won't be an issue."
On the ball, he added: "But the ball moving around will be an issue because it moves a lot more. The goalkeepers will tell you that.
"You can see it when you strike the ball. There are going to be a lot more spectacular goals and could even be a lot more spectacular misses with the way the ball moves about."
No comments:
Post a Comment