Buffon tips Italy ahead of England

Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon expects his country to do better than England in the World Cup this summer. Many expect both Italy and England to struggle and that the duo will do battle for a qualification spot to the next round.

Buffon told reporters: At this moment, Italy are the team who can think about going the furthest compared with England and Uruguay – at least at the start of the tournament.

“I think that our national team has become one that is reliable and that manages to win the matches it should win. Sometimes we manage to cause surprises in the games in which we don’t start as favourites, giving the opposition some headaches. I’m thinking about Spain, with whom we have drawn twice recently and Brazil, against whom we lost but played a great match.”"