Rooney wants more from England in France
England captain Wayne Rooney has challenged the squad to up its game ahead of the Three Lions' Euro 2016 kickoff against Russia on June 11.
Roy Hodgson's side overcame Portugal by a 1-0 scoreline on Thursday, but it was a drab display against an outfit which was reduced to 10 men after Bruno Alves' shocking flying boot connected with Harry Kane's head.
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"We won the game, but it was always difficult for us when Portugal went down to 10 men,'' Rooney told ITV Sport.
"They made it difficult, but we kept going and we got the win so that was obviously important to us."
The previous two friendlies leading up to the summer tournament provided similarly slender one-goal wins over Turkey and Australia, and Rooney appreciates that England is currently playing below expectations.
"We know in these games there have been a lot of changes. We haven't been at our best, but we have won the three games which is important especially as a young team," he said.
"We are winning games when we are not playing well. We have to improve and in tournament football you have to improve to win games.''
Hodgson also shared his frustrations in not facing XI Portuguese throughout Wembley's test, due to it simply turning into an exercise in breaking down a well-organised defence. He was pleased with the composure and patience shown by his men, however, and refused to be drawn into criticising a team that takes a winning record into Euro 2016.
"If I start being dissaitisfied with three wins against Australia, Turkey and Portugal, I'm going to be a hard coach to satisfy," said Hodgson.
After the opener against Russia, England rounds off its Group B commitments against rival Wales on June 16 and Slovakia on June 20.