Gerrard: It was fantastic

Steven Gerrard admits it was an 'amazing' feeling to lead England out as captain in the international friendly with Egypt on Wednesday evening.

The Liverpool midfielder skippered the Three Lions to a 3-1 success at Wembley as a second-half brace from Peter Crouch and Shaun Wright-Phillips's strike secured victory for Fabio Capello's side.

However, England were made to work hard for the win after Mohamed Zidan fired the visitors into an early lead.

"It was a fantastic moment for me," Gerrard enthused. "I felt amazing in the tunnel leading the boys out and it was very nice to get a win.

"But it was also important that we got the win, given the stuff that has been happening off the pitch.

"It was important to send the supporters away feeling happy.

"You have to give credit to Egypt. They are a fantastic team, winners of the African Nations. They pass the ball well and they are well organised.

"They got massive confidence from going a goal up. The first half was tough but there was a big reaction from the team in the second half.

"Crouchie made a big difference, as did Shaun Wright-Phillips and I suppose we could have won the game even more comfortably."

With the start of the World Cup finals now less than 100 days away, Gerrard feels the win may have sent out a message to Group C rivals Algeria.

"Hopefully we will have Algeria a little bit concerned now," he said.

"If they had seen Egypt beat us, it would have given them massive confidence.

"We are hoping now that it will have the reverse effect. There has been a lot written about this team in the last few weeks and we had to react.

"We had the perfect platform to show everyone we are still a good team, that the confidence and togetherness is still there and I thought we showed amazing character."

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