Emmanuel Petit names England star set to cost them the World Cup – ‘I don’t feel it’

Emmanuel Petit is ‘very confident’ in England at the World Cup after their 4-2 win over Croatia but picked out one player who could cost them the tournament.

A first-half brace from Harry Kane and goals after the break from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford gave Thomas Tuchel’s side a flying start to the World Cup, and Petit is confident the Three Lions can make a deep run into the tournament.

“Croatia is a great country; it’s a huge team, but I’ve been very confident from the start with England,” he said on talkSPORT.

“Why? Because the fluidity, the movement, the pace, the intensity, there were the commitment as well. Everything was right from the start. And I was very, very happy to see that.”

READ MORE: England player ratings: Kane, Bellingham, Madueke star in wild 4-2 win over ageing Croatia

The former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder, who won the World Cup with France in 1998, insists captain Harry Kane is pivotal to their chances this summer after enjoying his all-action display in the opening game.

“There is one player particularly that impressed me a lot and that’s Harry Kane,” he added. “You put aside the two goals he scored; it was his defensive work too.

“At the end of the game, he was the last defender and he put his body just in front of the striker. And I thought to myself, this is typical of a central defender, and he was acting exactly the same way.

“It doesn’t matter where he is on the pitch; he always does exactly what he takes, you know, in the middle of the park, defensively, up front. He always does the right things all the time.

“He’s the leader of this team and you can see that it spreads to his teammates. He enjoys what he’s doing, and he plays with so much confidence and he’s so dedicated to the national team. This is for me, something really, really important when it comes from your leader.”

‘Always feel like something could happen’

But, like Troy Deeney, Petit believes Jordan Pickford could be a problem for England.

“I was not really impressed by Pickford,” the Frenchman added.

“I think he should have done better on the first goal, definitely. He made some saves, but I don’t know, I don’t feel it.

“If you want to go until the end, you need to have one of the strongest goalkeepers in the competition. And that’s my opinion. You may disagree with me, but I’m not really confident with him.

“The first game, in terms of emotion, it’s always very difficult to cope with that.

“But again, with the ball at his feet, especially on the line, sometimes when he goes for a free kick or corner, I always have the feeling that something could happen.”