Football: England have quality to pull off one of the great

SVEN Goran Eriksson's England have the quality and confidence to pull off one of the great World Cup victories of all time in Munich on Saturday night.

Liverpool's tremendous win over European Champions Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup on Friday is a great boost for Eriksson and his players as they prepare for the make-or-break game.

Victory against Germany in their own backyard would be a magnificent achievement, exceeding even the battling draw against Italy four years ago that clinched a place at France '98.

I genuinely believe Eriksson's men can win, although the Germans' incredible record of consistency, particularly at home, will ensure it won't be easy.

Germany have only lost ONE qualifying game on home soil since the war and that was a meaningless game against Portugal when they were already sure of their place.

They are not the team of old but their record of achievement in the World Cup demands respect. Three times they have won it, three times they have finished runners-up and twice they have claimed third spot.

That shows just how the Germans have kept grinding out results down the years.

This is a good German side, but not a great one.They are hard- working and well-organised, but lack flair and quality.

England are a young, exciting and improving side and, despite the defeat against Holland, there is a lot of confidence in the camp.

I don't read too much into that White Hart Lane defeat as England had only half their Munich starting line-up playing.

I also believe Holland are a technically superior side to the Germans. I believe we will see a very different England side in Munich.

The Germans have some very good players. Keeper Oliver Kahn has shown both with Bayern Munich and Germany that he us up there with the best.

Mehmet Scholl is back in the squad after injury and he is a particularly accomplished midfielder, while Oliver Bierhoff is a prolific scorer, despite not always being a permanent fixture in the side.

English fans will know all about Christian Ziege of Spurs and Dietmar Hamann of Liverpool.

Ziege can be a danger attacking down the left, but defensively he isn't the best. England should get at him and put him under pressure.

Hamann could well start in the absence of Stefan Effenberg and, as his winner against England at Wembley shows, he must be watched from set-pieces and long-range shooting chances.

The Liverpool player knows everything there is to know about English football in general and team-mates Michael Owen and Emile Heskey in particular.

Hamann will no doubt pass on his knowledge to German coach Rudi Voller. The Germans always do their homework thoroughly.

Although Germany won 5-2 in Hungary in their last match, I'm still not convinced they have a lot of craft in attack. I can't see Carsten Jancker, for example, causing undue problems. Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand come up against players like him week in, week out.

In reality the Munich clash is the group decider. Germany will win their remaining fixture at home to Finland and England will beat Albania and Greece.

The fact that England simply must win to have any chance of automatic qualification, while the Germans only need a draw, will suit Erikssson's men.

It's very often difficult to play for a draw at home and that could make the Germans edgy.

The situation is a bit like the 1989 title race when in the final game Liverpool needed a draw at Anfield and Arsenal had to win. Normally Liverpool were cavalier at Anfield, but knowing a draw was enough they didn't play their natural game. I think the same could happen in Munich.

England will need to keep it tight for the first 20 minutes or so and then hope to nick a goal.

But the Germans won't fancy coming up against the pace and power of Owen and Heskey after what happened to Bayern in the Super Cup. The way Bayern were pulled apart by the Liverpool front pairing augurs well for Munich.

The noises coming out of the German camp suggest they are confident of getting the point they need. But if England's big players perform on the night and get the right breaks they could shatter German optimism.

I firmly believe that Eriksson's side have a fantastic chance of pulling off one of the greatest results in English football history...

And, even if they don't, I expect his improving young side to go to the World Cup Finals via the play-off route.

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