Sport

Wenger backs super England

Silver service: Sven gets close to the Euro 2004 trophy
Michael Hart|Evening Standard
14 April 2012

Arsene Wenger today ranked England as second favourites for the Euro 2004 title behind defending champions France.


And he described the clash of the two nations in Lisbon on 13 June as: "A match that no one with a genuine interest in football will want to miss."

Arsenal's French coach believes that both countries will emerge successfully from Group B to compete in the later stages of the 16-nation tournament.

He said: "They are the two outstanding teams in Group B and I think that both will get through. Some of the other groups might be tighter and more competitive. Group D, for instance, has three very good teams competing for the two qualifying places.

"The French are the tournament favourites and may just have the edge in the game against England, but it'll be a finely balanced match in which Thierry Henry and Michael Owen will be key figures. It's flattering for us to think that Arsenal could have a big influence on the outcome. We could have four players in the French team and a couple more in the England team.

"I think that England showed by reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup that they are again a considerable force. They have a good young team, world class players in midfield and in Owen one of the game's great goalscorers."

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England haven't lost a competitive match against France since Sir Alf Ramsey's first game as coach - a 5-2 defeat in a European Championship qualifying tie in 1963.

The last time the two nations met they drew 1-1 in a friendly in Paris in September 2000, just before Kevin Keegan quit as manager.

England's last two games with Switzerland have both been 1-1 draws - friendly in Berne in March 1998 and the opening of the Euro 96 finals at Wembley. England drew 0-0 with Croatia as part of their warm-up for those finals and, in August, beat them 3-1 in a friendly at Ipswich.

Now that Sven-Goran Eriksson is aware of the opposition in Portugal next summer he will begin finalising England's series of warm-up matches in the New Year, believed to be games against Portugal and Sweden.