Lampard confident of glory
Frank Lampard is backing England to lift the World Cup next summer – and wipe out the memory of their disappointing exit from Euro 2004.
Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side have made sure of qualification for the 2006 finals in Germany without having to rely on Wednesday’s final qualifier with Poland.
Lampard was as upset as everyone after England bowed out to Portugal following a penalty shoot-out in Lisbon 16 months ago when the chance of winning a major tournament was beckoning.
But he is confident that England have the quality to shine when it really matters – providing the squad is firing on all cylinders.
The Chelsea midfielder told PA Sport: “We are confident for the World Cup. People do get excited and carried away, rightly so, with the individuals in the squad.
“We’ve got to remind ourselves that we need to be at our best come the World Cup to have a chance of winning it. Euro 2004 was disappointing but, with the players we have got, if we are at our best then we believe we have got a great chance.
“We know that in international football, if you drop your level of performance you can get beat by any team. Come the World Cup the lads are confident they will be ready.”
Lampard does recognise England “have work to do” between now and June to ensure they are ready for the challenge of capturing football’s biggest prize.
He said: “We gave glimpses of what we can achieve in parts in the qualifying matches but are aware we need to improve between now and next summer.
“The good thing is we have got the task completed in terms of qualifying with a game in hand and that has not always happened in the past.
“If you look at the other groups some really big countries – France and Spain to name two – have had a real battle to try and get through.”
One player Lampard knows will be crucial to England’s hopes of glory is his Stamford Bridge team-mate John Terry.
He said: “John is a fantastic player. A fantastic personality and character as well as a fantastic player.
“He has been brilliant for Chelsea for a long, long time and England as well for a long time now. But we are fortunate that in the centre-half area we are strong.”
