Wenger believes England can win World Cup
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Your support makes all the difference.The Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, has placed England among the favourites to lift next year's World Cup and ranks Sven Goran Eriksson's side above France.
The Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, has placed England among the favourites to lift next year's World Cup and ranks Sven Goran Eriksson's side above France.
The absence of any international tournaments this summer will give players more time to rest after another hectic campaign and Wenger thinks the break might be crucial for England and Arsenal.
"The fact there aren't any international competitions going on will be important for us because you never know we might have to play a qualifier in the Champions' League," he said. "But it will also be important for the English national team as well because I would place them as one of the favourites to win the World Cup. I have watched many games and I believe they will be among the favourites at the competition, and that is positive for England."
France are level with Israel at the top of their World Cup qualifying group and when asked whether he thought England are superior to Raymond Domenech's team, Wenger replied: "Yes, at the moment. We're not sure in France that we will even be there."
The 1998 world champions have been involved in an international competition every season for the last five years, so will enjoy the fixture-free summer more than most.
Fatigue is not something that seems to be affecting Thierry Henry, however, after the Arsenal striker fired his seventh hat-trick for the club in the 4-1 victory over Norwich on Saturday. Henry is now within four goals of Ian Wright's all-time club record.
"At the moment I am still behind Ian Wright, so I'll only talk about it if I ever do it. I am not the type to talk about it before it is done," Henry said. "I knew I went ahead of Cliff Bastin on Saturday. I know about him but to be honest it is difficult to find any tapes. But I do understand he was a great player for Arsenal just like Wrighty."
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