Hodgson hopes to harness Olympic spirit

Roy Hodgson has called on his England stars to follow the example of Great Britain's Olympians and become better role models for their sport. With the London Games coming to a close on Sunday and the Premier League season getting underway next weekend, England manager Hodgson wants to see his players feted in the same way as Britain's Olympic heroes. Hodgson, whose side face Italy in a friendly in Berne on Wednesday, knows there is extra responsibility on his players to emulate the Olympic spirit that has captivated the world for the past two weeks. "I'd love to tap into the whole Olympic atmosphere," Hodgson said "I've been really impressed by our athletes in how they have won medals and embraced their victory. "It's been very refreshing to see talented people showing a good face to the nation and the world. I was pleased with the way the England players behaved and conducted themselves during EURO 2012. "Now the Olympics have really shown us the way to go so there is now an extra burden of responsibility on our players to make sure they are good role models and professionals in the way they speak to the nation as our athletes have done."