Upson: under pressure

  • by Matthew O'Greel
  • Monday, 11th February 2008

Matthew Upson is looking forward to keeping his place in the England team that faces France in Paris next month.

The Hammers defender made his first appearance for England in three years last Wednesday, his eighth cap in all.

New England boss Fabio Capello was at Upton Park on Saturday to check up on Upson, as well as a number of other possible candidates for his next squad.

Upson, as always, gave an assured performance - and talking to whufc.com, revealed that he was enjoying the new-found pressure being part of the England team brings.

"Part and parcel of being in an international team is having the spotlight on you every week," he said. "It's another aspect to cope with and you have to be mentally strong.

"It's happened to me a bit sooner than I'd thought, it's just a sign of how far I've come in the last six months really. I've got myself fit and on a good run of form - and it was a fantastic opportunity for me."

With regard to the two days spent with the England camp last week, he added:

"I enjoyed every minute; everything had a real structure to it. The discipline was there, a real emphasis on training, the high intensity.

I learnt a lot in the training sessions. The trip was a complete success for me because I improved and learnt a lot."

On the game itself, Upson revealed that he was proud as punch to represent his country.

"The stadium is magnificent as is the whole occasion of playing for England," he said. "There's no better feeling than walking out of the tunnel and signing the anthem and being part of the game.

"It's the pinnacle of your career and something I'm hungry to do agan and again. It's now a case of maintaining what I'm doing and improving the areas I need to and hopefully maintain my place in the squad."

* Something to say about this story? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.



More News