Tomasson dismisses England's chances

Denmark striker Jon Dahl Tomasson believes England are not good enough to win the World Cup and that he is sure Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side will get knocked out in the quarter-finals.

The former Newcastle man, who will play for AC Milan in Serie A next season after leaving Feyenoord on a free transfer, was one of a number of Danish players who failed to live up to expectations as Morten Olsen’s side slumped to a 3-0 defeat to England on Saturday.

Three first half goals gave England a comfortable win in Niigata but Tomasson insisted the loss was more down to Denmark’s poor showing than England’s quality.

‘‘The England goals came by accident, they can’t create anything themselves,’’ Tomasson told Danish newspaper BT.

‘‘They will go out in the next round, I’m sure.

‘‘They are only hard to beat if they take the lead in games and sit back to defend.’’

Tomasson, who scored four goals in four matches in Japan and Korea, was bitterly disappointed that he could not crown a great club season by helping the Danes go all the way at the World Cup.

‘‘The disappointment does not go away even if I talk about it because our team had the qualities to go further,’’ he added.

‘‘Against Uruguay we played attacking football, against Senegal we fought until the last breath and we defeated France on ability and tactics. What more can anyone want?

‘‘We showed it all.

‘‘That we had to go home after the England match is difficult to accept because they weren’t better than us.’’