• England v Sweden

England not good enough to win Euro 2012 - Wenger

ESPN staff
November 15, 2011
Arsene Wenger has moulded Jack Wilshere into an England player © PA Photos
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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger ranks England as outsiders for Euro 2012 - but feels they could spring a surprise if everything falls into place in the build-up.

The England camp has been injected with a shot of optimism following the 1-0 win over world and European champions Spain at the weekend, a victory achieved in the absence of key players Jack Wilshere, Wayne Rooney, John Terry and Steven Gerrard.

Yet Wenger is refusing to include England among the favourites for Euro 2012, having watched the dismal performance given by Fabio Capello's men at the World Cup last year. England laboured through the group stages, then were thumped 4-1 by Germany in the second round.

"I would place England and France at roughly the same level," Wenger said. "They cannot say that they have the quality to win Euro 2012, but if it all clicks well in their preparation and the form of their best players, they might make a good surprise.

"You would say it's between Spain, Germany and Holland, and then just behind them are England and France who can be outsiders - interesting outsiders. Let's wait and see the draw, and see who is available and in form."

In the post-mortem following the World Cup exit, one of the factors cited for England's downfall was the unrealistic level of expectation foisted on the players by the public. Wenger feels the national team will benefit if fans are more realistic with their hopes for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine next summer.

"England [are] always under pressure," he said. "The expectation level is so high in England that it always puts extra pressure on the team. So let's just say that England are a good team, because they have good players. But let's not make England a favourite to win Euro 2012. Let's give them credit, support and hopefully we will have a good surprise for once."

On Tuesday England hope to gather more momentum against Sweden, a country they have not beaten for 43 years. Capello will make eight changes for the Wembley clash, with Tottenham full-back Kyle Walker pencilled in to start for the first time. Skipper Terry, Gary Cahill, Bobby Zamora and Jack Rodwell have also been confirmed as starters against the Swedes.

Capello has warned his players about the quality of Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who produced some of the best form of his career playing under the Italian for Juventus.

"Ibrahimovic is a fantastic player,'' Capello said. "He has good imagination, technically he is fantastic and scores goals from long and short distance. He is one of the best players I trained in my life, in my career, and he proved it a lot when at Juventus.''

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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