Kaiser criticises England's 'mental block'

Staff and agencies
Tuesday June 25, 2002

German legend Franz Beckenbauer has claimed that a lack of self-belief cost England a place in the World Cup semi-finals. Beckenbauer has praised his national team for battling back from the 5-1 loss to Sven-Goran Eriksson's side in the qualifying stages. But while he feels Germany have the resolve to win when it matters, Beckenbauer fears England have become too used to falling just short at the highest level.

He said: "If England had the mental strength of Germany they would be in the semi-finals and be favourites to win the tournament. Some teams take failure and use it as a reason to come back stronger. They build up again and use the memory to their advantage. That is what Germany appear to have done. Other teams use failure as an excuse for more failure and it becomes a mental block," he told the Daily Mirror.