Football
PA Sport 8y

England have players to end international trophy drought - Neville

Gary Neville has said he is confident that England can win a major trophy and not fail like the "golden generation" of which he was part.

Valencia coach Neville, who represented his country between 1995 and 2007, lined up alongside players such as Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Michael Owen and Rio Ferdinand.

But the closest they came to international glory was when they reached the last eight of three successive tournaments under Sven-Goran Eriksson

Neville, now part of Roy Hodgson's England coaching staff, told GQ magazine: "There will come a point where we get that generation to succeed.

"But of course we need to improve, to have more than the 32 percent of English players we have in the Premier League now.

"There are four serial winners -- Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Germany. Then others win but dip after -- Spain, France did it, England in the 1960s. It will come again.

"On our day we can beat anyone. Then the question is, can we sustain it over a tournament? That remains to be seen. Roy picks the players but I have strong belief in them.

"If we can keep this group together, this can become 'the' generation."

Neville was part of Sir Alex Ferguson's all-conquering Manchester United side that dominated English football for the majority of the last 25 years.

Ferguson won 49 trophies during a 26-year tenure at Old Trafford, and it has come as little surprise to Neville that United have suffered a slump since his departure three years ago.

"Manchester United has been going 120 years. It is impossible to retain success year after year after year," the defender, who played for the club 602 times, said.

"When Sir Alex Ferguson was manager, everyone said that when he leaves there will be a period of transition. Now people don't want to accept it; they aren't enjoying it. There is a dip, but it is normal."

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