Ronan Keating rooting for ''unconvincing'' England at World Cup

Berlin, June 30 (UNI) Disappointed that his country Ireland failed to make it to the World Cup finals, former Boyzone singer Ronan Keating says he is hoping that neighbours England would win the tournament but remains unconvinced with their performance so far.

''I'd love to see England win, but they haven't done anything so far to suggest that they will. They haven't looked convincing and I can't really put my finger on why that is,'' Keating said in an interview to FIFA's official World Cup website.

''When they are with their clubs, the players in the England side look like world beaters, but for some reason they don't seem to play as well for England,'' he added.

Keating admitted that his hectic schedule has not allowed him to follow the tournament closely but added that he did watch the second round England -- Ecuador clash and was left disappointed by David Beckham's side. Keating said he was hoping for an improvement in the quarterfinal clash against Portugal.

''On paper, they have one of the finest teams in the tournament, but against Ecuador, they had to rely on a David Beckham special to get them through. Who knows, they may spring into life against Portugal,'' he said.

The pop singer, who is a close friend of Roy Keane, said Ireland's failure to qualify for the World Cup gutted the former Irish captain. But, Keating said, he was hopeful about Ireland coming through in 2010.

''I know Robbie Keane very well, he lives near to me in Dublin.

Obviously, he's gutted, absolutely gutted. It must be so hard for a professional footballer to watch the World Cup on television when you had the chance to be there.'' ''But we have a good manager in Steve Staunton who I know will prepare us well for EURO 2008 and hopefully we'll be in South Africa in 2010,'' Keating said.

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