England coach Roy Hodgson has hailed the leadership of his captain Steven Gerrard.
Hodgson has lauded Liverpool skipper Gerrard in the wake of England qualifying for the World Cup - inferring that the captain is one of football's great thinkers.
"I can't speak highly enough of him," he said. "He's got a fantastic quality, Steven. Where I talk a lot and don't often say things that are particularly memorable, every time he opens his mouth he says something that I wish I'd have said.
"His other great quality is that he leads by example. When I called him up when I got the job and I said "'I'd like you to be the captain', he said he'd like to be captain, 'I'll take it very seriously and do my best whenever I can'. It's exactly what he's delivered over the last 18 months.
"Everyone looks up to Steven as he's such a good player. He doesn't have to scream and shout, all he has to do is do what he does. He's very, very supportive of all the players, he encourages them and urges them on. He's not a screamer or shouter but he does talk to the players.
"He, perhaps more than anybody, should be really proud of this World Cup qualifying campaign.
"He's going to be desperate to make sure that when he leaves Brazil, he'll have memories of not only a good qualifying campaign, but memories of a good World Cup campaign."
