Sweden coach: "England is the perfect team to win the World Cup"
Janne Andersson acknowledged the strength of the English team, after the 0-2 defeat in the quarter-finals on July 7.
"I am sure England are capable of winning the championship," said coach Andersson. "They are strong and well organised. I want to compliment the England players and coach Gareth Southgate. They are a strong team, although they did not make a big impression in the group stage. But I believe England are the perfect team to win the championship."
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Coach Southgate and his students are highly rated for the championship. Photo:Reuters. |
On their way to the 2018 World Cup, they qualified ahead of the Netherlands, beat Italy in the play-offs and helped knock defending champions Germany out of the group stage. After missing the last two World Cups, Sweden have exceeded expectations. Reaching the quarter-finals is their best performance since 1994, when they finished third.
"I think Sweden played very well to get to the quarter-finals. But we lost the match convincingly against England," Mr. Andersson added.
After the victory over Sweden, Southgate's team became the second most likely team to win the championship. That is according to the study of the Football Power Index (SPI). SPI rated England as having a 28% chance of winning the championship, 1% less than France. Meanwhile, Belgium's chance is 26%.
