Butland realises dream

27 July 2012 09:35

Team GB goalkeeper Jack Butland was delighted to realise a dream, keeping goal for his side's Olympic opener against Senegal.

The-19 year-old has made just 24 first-team appearances at club level for League Two outfit Cheltenham Town and, despite featuring for England at various youth-team levels, he believes last night's 1-1 draw was the biggest game of his career to date.

"I loved it, nervy start, obviously it's the biggest crowd I've played in front of but at some point I'm going to have to play in front of a big crowd," Butland told reporters.

"I'm thankful it's tonight, I've really enjoyed it, it's been one of my dreams to play here.

"Unfortunately we didn't get the result we wanted but we've got a point on the board and we can build from that."

After taking the lead through Craig Bellamy, a poor clearance from Butland almost gifted Senegal an instant equaliser but the Birmingham man was keen to not dwell on his error.

He admitted: "I think I was (lucky with his first half clearance), there's no doubt about it. I made a mistake and people do that, it's about how you react and come back from that and I felt I did that.

"As far as I'm concerned it's gone and we move onto the next game."

The other Group A game between Uruguay and the United Arab Emirates saw the South American giants record a 2-1 win.

Butland remains confident of securing a result against the UAE in his team's next match, highlighting the togetherness of the squad.

"I think we've got every chance of winning (against UAE), and I think we'll go into every game like that, we've got confidence in ourselves.

"I think we showed today how good we are on the ball and that we like to play and pass the ball. We didn't quite get the result but we've got every confidence we can get out of the group.

"Everyone gets on well, they are a great bunch of lads and they're all talented and gifted people.

"I've got no problems with any one, we all get on well and that's a good thing moving forward."