England have a ‘good chance’ of WINNING World Cup despite horror run, declares victorious Italy manager Roberto Mancini
ITALY boss Roberto Mancini believes England still have a “good chance” of winning the World Cup later this year.
Gareth Southgate’s men lost 1-0 to Mancini’s side in Milan on Friday night, extending their winless run to five matches as they were relegated from their Nations League group.
England have just one game left before the World Cup in Qatar – a clash with Germany on Monday.
They have not tasted victory since March, drawing two and losing three since then and scoring just one goal in the process.
But Mancini, whose Italy side have not qualified for the World Cup, still believes England remain one of the favourites to lift the trophy despite their poor form.
Speaking after the match, he said: “You [England] are in the World Cup and that is the most important.
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“My opinion is that England is one of the best teams in the world even if they lose the game.
“They can have a good chance in the World Cup.”
Southgate received criticism from the likes of Gary Lineker during the defeat to Italy.
The former England striker disagreed with the decision to leave James Maddison out of the squad and Trent Alexander-Arnold on the bench.
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But Southgate continued to see the positives in the performance, albeit while acknowledging the concerns around the winless run.
He said: “I understand the reaction at the end because that’s the results we’ve had in this competition. It’s an understandable emotional reaction.
“There’s going to be a lot of noise but that will be around me and that’s absolutely fine. It’s my job to take that pressure for them.
“I personally thought the performance was a step in the right direction but I perfectly understand that because of the result that’s not going to be the reaction.”
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England host Germany at Wembley on Monday in their final match before their World Cup campaign – which gets underway against Iran on November 21.
They then face USA on November 25, before taking on Wales in their final group game on November 29.