England united – Upson

(GSM) – England defender Matthew Upson feels that the squad players are finally acting as a unit. England secured their first World Cup win with a 1-0 victory over Slovenia on Wednesday.

And after reported rifts in the dressing room with the frustrated former captain John Terry apologizing to manager Fabio Capello for his criticizing comments following a slow start for the tournament.

West Ham United’s Upson is confident that the Three Lions will show their unity on the pitch.

“You can use all those things and use all the rumours and all the accusations as fuel to improve and succeed and get tighter together,” said the West Ham centre-back.

“That’s something we have improved on as a team and I think we can still get better at it, as we can in a lot of other areas.

“It’s the key to winning, for me. Forget everything else, tactics, the lot – it is about you as human beings and people and what you are willing to commit and your attitude, and I thought we did that really well.”

England will have to face a tough opponent in Germany on Sunday as the second round in Bloemfontein on Sunday.

Asked if it mattered his side had not won Group C, Upson replied: “To me it doesn’t, personally.

“Some people say you need the best route to the final, which you would agree with – you want to play as weak teams as you can.

“But eventually, you are going to have to beat the best teams and Sunday will be a great opportunity for us to go into another situation where it is a win-only opportunity.

“That doesn’t bother me.”