World Cup

latest news about World Cup : Spain forward David Villa is convinced England have the perfect players to win the World Cup. Villa, who signed for Barcelona from Valencia at the end of the season for 40 million euros, has earmarked Fabio Capello’s squad as one of the favourites to lift the trophy in South Africa and drew a parallel between England and his own country before they won Euro 2008.

Going into the European Championships two years ago, Spain were regarded as perennial underachievers.

But they finally fulfilled their potential with a series of fine performances to win their first international trophy for 44 years.

Vicente del Bosque’s side are now widely hailed as the best in the world and Villa believes England, who last won the World Cup 44 years ago, have enough talent in their side to undergo a similar transformation.

He told The Sun: “Yes, England are good enough to win the World Cup. Absolutely. They are a bit like Spain, aren’t they?

“The fact is, they have always had good teams and they have found it difficult in the big competitions. But the day will come, won’t it?

“I think they have a perfect generation to make it to the final – and they will surely be one of the teams to beat.”

Although England have failed to impress in their World Cup warm-up matches, they struggled to a 3-0 win over a local league side on Monday, Villa claims Capello can call on some of the best players at the finals.

“Individually, England have some of the best players – in defence, midfield as well as attack,” he added.

“They have a great manager and a team that can perfectly well reach the final.

“I like a lot of their players but this season I would pick out Wayne Rooney.

“Frank Lampard also had a marvellous season and I have a special kind of admiration for Steven Gerrard.”