Brazil coach feels England have best chance to win

London, May 22: As many as eight teams are good enough to spoil each other's party and run away with the silverware and David Beckham's boys are good enough to end England's four-decade-old World Cup drought, feels Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira.

In an interview with BBC Sports, Parreira said the present England side is the best he has seen since 1966 and they can repeat the feat of the Bobby Moore-led squad.

''This is the best English national team I have seen since 1966,'' he said.

The 63-year-old coach also refused to call his side the overwhelming pre-tournament favourites and said, ''Brazil is not the only favourite. You have to consider Germany, England, France, Holland, Italy, Czech Republic and Portugal.'' ''I believe this World Cup is going to be different. There are going to be at least eight national teams, that if they became champions, it would not be a surprise for anybody.'' Surprisingly, Perreira did not name Argentina even though the Latin American side is being considered a strong outfit.

Perreira's concern for the time being are Ronaldo's fitness, Adriano's temperament and the defence which comprise an off-form Roberto Carlos and an injured Roque Junior while under the bar, Dida is yet to convince all.

Perreira, however, seemed unperturbed.

''We have to consider the World Cup itself. People were saying Dida was very bad, he could not play. But I came back from Barcelona and Dida was the best player in the ground. With the three weeks preparation we are going to have, they are going to be OK. They have the experience and the willingness to be in the World Cup,'' he added.

UNI