Former coach of Azerbaijan's national football squad tips England to shine

"England can be one of the favourites to win the World Cup," said Alberto, captain of Brazil's 1970 winning side.

"They have very good players and a good team. I don't know how the coach will face the problem of Rooney but England have good experience."

But he said "it would be a very big problem" if Michael Owen was also out.

Like Rooney, Owen is recovering from a broken foot, but is making good progress and is expected to be fit for the tournament, which starts on 9 June.

Alberto was coach of Azerbaijan when England played the Asian nation in the qualifying stages.

In an exclusive interview with BBC Sport, he said as many as seven teams could win the tournament, naming "Portugal, Italy, Holland, the Czech Republic, and Germany of course because they play at home".

But he said Brazil were strong favourites to retain their title in what he expected to be "the best World Cup ever" in terms of the quality of the teams.

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