Traditional Giants' World Cup Stranglehold Will Be Broken By An African Or Asian Side Soon, Says Emmanuel Petit

Emmanuel Petit is convinced it won't be long before a country from Africa or Asia wins the World Cup.

Football's most prestigious trophy has never been lifted by a nation from either continent, with Europe and South America providing all 20 champions.

Brazil lead the way with five wins, followed by Germany and Italy on four, Argentina and Uruguay on two, with England, Spain and France completing the set.

Petit was a key member of the triumphant French side in 1998 and, two decades on, he sees that the so-called smaller nations are much bigger players now.

He said: 'I won't say it's going to happen in Qatar, or in 2026, but sooner rather than later those kind of teams from Asia or Africa are going to win the World Cup, for sure.

'A lot of the African players play in Europe, some for the biggest clubs, and that was not the case 20 or 30 years ago. It's the same for Asian ­players, you have seen that with South Korea and Japan.

'And in Asia, China have put football in the middle of their society. Many countries have raised their levels so much.

'I'm not surprised some of the so-called ­bigger nations have not played so well because football has changed a lot. Small countries, if I can say that, are not small anymore.

'In the space of two decades, small countries have changed so much and they are prepared the same way physically and tactically, they have more potential now.

'Twenty or 30 years ago, it was easy for the most powerful countries in football to win it.

'But now it is not the same and I am not ­surprised by what I've seen since the beginning of the tournament.'

Many observers were shocked - albeit ­pleasantly - to see world champions Germany crash out last week after losing 2-0 to South Korea and finishing ­bottom of their group.

But not Petit, 47, who added: 'I was not surprised, as they ­reminded me of us in 2002. It was exactly the same body ­language, the same spirit, the same behaviour. They looked very heavy on the pitch, without ­inspiration - no creativity, no anger, no desire.

'When you win so many trophies, most people are not the same as Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, or Lionel Messi. Every year those guys raise their levels and have no limits. Ninety-nine per cent of the ­population aren't like this. It's human.

'When you earn so much money and win so many trophies, at the end of the day you want to rest a bit and enjoy your life. This is exactly what happened to Germany.'

Petit picks out Brazil as his favourites to win this World Cup, with Croatia his dark horses.

But he said: 'In the past, we could say 100 per cent that five or six teams could win the World Cup, now it's actually quite different.

'Of course, there are some favourite teams but you could even imagine a surprise ­during this World Cup. It's so refreshing, it's not the same ­anymore... and I like it.'

Source: The Mirror