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Lothar Matthaus doubts England's World Cup credentials

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Gareth Southgate's England team are not ready for success at the World Cup, says Lothar Matthaus

Lothar Matthaus, Germany's 1990 World Cup winning captain, says Russia 2018 will come "too early" for England to have success.

Matthaus played a record 25 World Cup matches over five separate tournaments during his career.

England won the under-17 and under-20 World Cups this year and Matthaus believes players are benefiting from the influx of foreign managers.

But he said the senior side will have to wait longer for success.

"I like the English team, there's a lot of good young players," Matthaus told Sky Sports News.

"Good results in the under-21s, under-20s, under-19s, and I think this helped a lot.

"The same with good coaches in the Premier League, like [Pep] Guardiola, like [Jurgen] Klopp.

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Lothar Matthaus
Image: Lothar Matthaus (left) captained Germany to the 1990 World Cup

"I think young players can profit from these kind of coaches with high quality and a lot of experience.

"[But] they need time. This World Cup is too early for this English team.

"But I feel in four years something can happen with English football. It's the same at international level, not only the club teams."

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