19-05-2002, 04:51 PM
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Retired
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Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 19,680
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Kaizer Franz backs England??
skysports.com again
Quote:
Franz Beckenbauer believes England can reach the World Cup final, but only if David Beckham recovers from his broken foot.
The Manchester United midfielder is expected to return against Sweden in England's first game on June 2 and the German legend stated that England can go a long way in the tournament.
He said: "David Beckham is a wonderful player, one of the best players in the world. He is captain and so is an important player, one of the key players for England.
"The World Cup is there to show the best players in the world and Beckham is one of them.
"I think they have a good chance of reaching the semi-finals. Once there it is possible to make the final. But they have to get off to a good start. Argentina are one of the favourites. If you make it through the group you can go straight to the finals."
Beckenbauer believes France, Argentina and Cameroon will reach the semi-finals, with either England or Italy taking the final spot inthe last four. But he admitted that Germany, who are in Group E with Ireland, Cameroon and Saudi Arabia, have little chance.
He added: "The German team is not ready yet. German football is a little bit depressed at the moment with Bayern Leverkusen and Dortmund losing in European finals.
"Germany gave a much better performance against Austria than they did against Wales. But we are not in the best condition and don't deserve to be among the favourites.
"We have a good team, a decent team. We are ready to make the quarter-finals. If we are very, very lucky maybe get to the semi-finals."
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