FORMER Derby County favourite Paulo Wanchope thinks England football fans need to have more belief in their team.
Wanchope is hoping to plot England's downfall at the World Cup in Brazil.
The 37-year-old ex-Rams striker is now assistant coach of his native Costa Rica, who face Roy Hodgson's men later this month.
The sides will meet in their final Group D match at the Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday, June 24.
The Costa Ricans go into the tournament as the group's outsiders, while expectations surrounding England's chances are unusually low.
But Wanchope has great respect for the country where he used to play his football.
"I came here in 1996 and something I came to realise was that the people don't believe too much in England," he said.
"In the rest of the world, including Costa Rica, we respect England and we always see them as favourites to go through and do well, because they always have good players.
"Maybe that's something that needs to change over here!
"Perhaps you guys need to believe more in the squad."
Italy and Uruguay are England and Costa Rica's other opponents in Brazil.
Wanchope believes his fellow countrymen are capable of causing an upset or two.
"We have good talent in the squad – people like Joel Campbell, Yeltsin Tejeda and Celso Borges.
"We know we are capable of good things and capable of upsetting any team.
"We're preparing ourselves the best we can and we're looking forward to the challenge."
Campbell, in particular, has caught the eye during a loan spell at Olympiakos from parent club Arsenal.
The striker scored a memorable goal in this year's Champions League against Manchester United.
"He's doing well, Joel Campbell," said Wanchope.
"I'm sure he will hit the headlines a lot in this country."
There has been plenty of talk about how the likes of England will cope with the South American conditions.
"The conditions will be difficult for everyone," said Wanchope.
"It's difficult to deal with and, also, the flying between games will be hard.
"The ones who deal with that better will have a better chance.
"We can adapt better to the conditions as we're more used to it than the European players."
Wanchope joined Derby for £700,000 from Herediano in his homeland in March 1997.
He became an instant hero by scoring a stunning solo goal on his debut as the Rams beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.
He went on to score 28 goals in 83 appearances for Derby before he was sold to West Ham United for £3.5m in the summer of 1999.
Wanchope played in two World Cups for Costa Rica and scored a total of 45 international goals in 73 appearances.
"It's always an honour to defend the colours of the country and now I have the chance to do it in another role," he said.
"I've had two years with the FA and now I have the chance to go to the World Cup, which is something very special."
