English football ‘best in world’, says Latvia boss ahead of Wembley clash

Latvia manager Paolo Nicolato on Sunday hailed English football as “the best in the world” ahead of his side’s World Cup qualifier at Wembley.

Monday’s match between England and Latvia will be the first time the teams have met at senior level, with Thomas Tuchel looking to build on a 2-0 win against Albania on Friday — his first match in charge of the Three Lions.

England will kick off fourth in the world rankings, with Latvia 140th in the standings.

Tuchel’s team are also among the leading contenders for next year’s World Cup, having reached back-to-back European Championship finals.

“In the last 20 years England has become the main league that we focus on,” said Nicolato. 

“It has changed the way to play football, it has changed the quality of players on the pitch.

“Especially there are always some new players that become great players. There are a lot of young players. English football is the best football in the world.”

He added: “We know that we have to face one of the best teams in Europe. We are not stupid, we know exactly our value, football is unpredictable, obviously we are not here just to play but we have to prove ourselves.”

Latvia won their group opener 1-0 at minnows Andorra on Friday, but a tough pitch and their domestic summer league have made a difficult task against England that much harder.

“The last match took out a lot of energy because it wasn’t a happy pitch and a lot of players just started playing in March so they are not fit,” Nicolato said.