Sven: England much improved

SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON has warned world champions Brazil he considers England a much more formidable team than the one that exited to the Latin Americans at the quarter-final stage of the 2002 World Cup.

Eriksson, who will step down as England head coach after the World Cup, made the claim in an interview with Brazilian sports paper Lance.

The Swede said: “If all the players are fully fit, I can say that this is the best generation of players and the best national team since I took over in 2001.”