Stiles - country behind the team (Allsport)

By Chris Roberts, PA Sport

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Nobby Stiles believes that the current England players have the same spirit as the 1966 World Cup winning team and the same respect for Sven-Goran Eriksson as they did for Sir Alf Ramsey.

And Stiles feels that can lead England to glory in Japan and South Korea.

The former Manchester United midfielder skipped around Wembley with the World Cup trophy in hands after beating West Germany 36 years ago.

Stiles is now convinced that England can finally bring the trophy back home again because they have the qualities that once made England great.

He said: "It's caught the imagination of the nation and the lads are definitely up for it.

"They are playing as a team and everybody's playing for each other. With the injuries they had nobody thought they would have a chance before flying out, but like any England team when we've got our backs to the wall we always come through it.

"Everybody has pulled together and are playing as a team and for each other which is great to see. That's the biggest comparison with the 1966 team.

"Again in 1966 the people that came through like Geoff Hurst, Alan Ball and Martin Peters came from nowhere and the same thing has happened with Nicky Butt, Danny Mills and Trevor Sinclair after injuries to Steven Gerrard and Gary Neville.

"You talk about experience and I only finished up with 28 caps, but Scholes and some of the other lads have a lot more experience than that and it's nice to see people like Nicky Butt coming through.

"It seems to me that they have a great respect for Sven, as we did with Sir Alf, but they don't go shouting about it and the great thing is that everybody is pulling together as a team.

"People criticised Danny Mills (for his mistake which allowed Sweden's equaliser in the opening Group F game), but they are not conceding goals and we didn't concede a goal until the semi-final in 1966 so the signs are good."

England did not start their Far East campaign well with an unimpressive 1-1 draw against Sweden, but Stiles also points out that Ramsey's heroes never exactly set the world alight with a disappointing goalless draw against Uruguay.

And the former European Cup winner claims that Eriksson's side are more than capable of going all the way to lift the trophy on June 30.

"Expectations were very high then (in 1966) because we were the hosts, but we drew 0-0 with Uruguay and people were disappointed," explained Stiles.

"But we went from there with little fuss.

"They can definitely beat Brazil and they will be confident because of the good understanding among the back four and a good balance in the team.

"They have been great so far and hopefully they will beat Brazil and go on and win it.

"It looks like it is the best chance we've had to win it since 1966.

"One of the great things about this World Cup is that everybody's favourites are going out. Nobody's mentioned England, but that can only be good for the country."