Marcel Desailly: Spain To Win The Confederations Cup, France Could Win World Cup

Each side competing in this year’s Confederations Cup has now featured on two occasions, and having studied each outfit, former France international defender Marcel Desailly believes that Spain are the team to beat.

“Spain are very strong, and I think it will be between Brazil and Spain, but I think Spain,” he replied when quizzed at a press conference today.

The former Chelsea and Milan defender also believes that those same sides will be in hot contention when the World Cup rolls around in 12 months time, although he did reserve some optimism for France, a side he believes will only improve in the coming year.

Indeed, Desailly believes that the current crop of players coming through in l’Hexagone have the ability to eclipse the World Cup winning side of 1998, a team he was a member of.

“They have a lot of good youngsters that are better than our generation,” he declared. “The young players need to realise that it is up to them to take the lead. They need to forget about the past. What is happening now with qualification is not an indication of what will happen at next year's World Cup. They need to take the lead.

“You never know at a World Cup. Who would have thought Italy and France would get to the final in 2006?”

Born in Ghana, Desailly hopes that South Africa, the first African country to host the World Cup, can cheer their side on to success. “Of course we want Bafana to do well, as they are the hosts,” he stated. “I hope they do well because they can when the nation gets behind them.”

South Africa currently lie second in Group A in the Confederations Cup, although they need at least a point against Desailly’s favourites to ensure their progression to the semi-final stage.

Robin Bairner, Goal.com

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