England's World Cup friendlies gave valuable lessons in handling South American-style aggression when the tournament starts in Brazil, coach Roy Hodgson said. England beat Peru in London, drew 2-2 with Ecuador last week and 0-0 with Honduras on Saturday when captain Steven Gerrard described the Honduran tackling as "horrific".
The two games produced three red cards with Raheem Sterling sent off against Ecuador game for a wild challenge on Antonio Valencia, who was red-carded for his reaction. Honduran Brayan Beckeles received his marching orders for two bookings, including one for catching Leighton Baines with his arm. Hodgson said he was happy with the way England handled themselves.
England face three physical sides in Copa America champions Uruguay, Italy and Costa Rica, who were slammed for their approach to a friendly with Ireland which saw Kevin Doyle require stitches to a cut on his head and the player involved sent off. England open their campaign against Italy in the heat of Manaus on Saturday. "The whole idea of playing Peru, Ecuador and Honduras was to show us something very different," Hodgson told British media.
"Had we played Sweden or Norway we'd know exactly what we're going into, how those teams play and how they behave. "The culture in these countries is different and we've had a nice little taste of it and, certainly, I was very pleased with the way the players kept their discipline, kept their shape.
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