Team GB going from strength to strength - Bellamy

Posted Thursday, August 02, 2012 by Goal.com

Craig Bellamy expressed his belief that Team GB are improving with every game after they beat Uruguay 1-0 to book their place in the quarter-finals of the London 2012 football tournament.

Daniel Sturridge scored the only goal of the game at the Millennium Stadium as Stuart Pearce's men weathered spells of heavy opposition pressure in the second half to record an impressive victory which saw them top Group A.

They will now face South Korea in the last eight, and Bellamy believes the business end of the competition is coming at just the right time for the team.

"We just met two weeks ago, and the aim was to gel and try to get a style of play," he told reporters.

"We've been trying to cram it in and we knew that with games, if we could just get out of this group, we'd give ourselves a good chance of improving as a team.

"We've had two weeks of pre-season and all of a sudden we're asked to play tournament football.

"It's difficult, but we're lucky we've got legs, we've got energy, which has helped us a lot, but we've got quality as well, and it's coming out in abundance at the moment."

A medal of some kind is now a real possibility for Team GB, but Bellamy insists that, regardless of what happens next, he has relished the unique experience of playing football in a home Games.

"To be involved in this, and to see this group of guys coming together and really wanting to do well, it's just been a huge privilege," he added.

"It's difficult being a footballer sometimes - the abuse you can receive one day and the praise the next, you have to learn to develop broad shoulders. But this has just been a pleasure to be involved in."