Rio Ferdinand believes England will make Franz Beckenbauer eat his words when they face Germany in the last 16 of the World Cup on Sunday.
Beckenbauer, a World Cup winner as a player and a coach with West Germany, had labelled England as "stupid" for failing to secure top spot in Group C after poor performances in draws against the United States and Algeria, and accused them of playing "kick and rush" football.
And Ferdinand told The Sun: "I think those comments will come back to bite Beckenbauer. Perhaps he wasn't expecting Germany and England to meet this early in the competition."
Years | Winners | Runner-up | Third place |
2006 | Italy | France | Germany |
2002 | Brazil | Germany | Turkey |
1998 | France | Brazil | Croatia |
1994 | Brazil | Italy | Sweden |
1990 | Germany | Argentina | Italy |
1986 | Argentina | Germany | France |
1982 | Italy | Germany | Poland |
1978 | Argentina | Holland | Brazil |
1974 | Germany | Holland | Poland |
1970 | Brazil | Italy | Germany |
1966 | England | Germany | Portugal |
1962 | Brazil | Czech | Chile |
1958 | Brazil | Sweden | France |
1954 | Germany | Hungary | Austria |
1950 | Uruguay | Brazil | Sweden |
1938 | Italy | Hungary | Brazil |
1934 | Italy | Czech | Germany |
1930 | Uruguay | Argentina | America |