Qatar 2022 World Cup: England will benefit, says Phil Neville

A Fifa taskforce has recommended switching the event to winter because of hot summer temperatures in Qatar.

That move has provoked plenty of criticism but Neville thinks it could be hugely beneficial to England's hopes of winning the tournament.

He believes players will be fresh and ready to take on the world's best.

"We normally go into a World Cup at the end of a long, hard, nine-month season when our players are absolutely dead on their feet," Neville, who won 59 caps for his country, told BBC Sport.

"For an England team, this might be the best thing that's ever happened."

The former Manchester United and Everton defender added that he would be "licking my lips" if he was England boss Roy Hodgson because "we'll have the freshest ever national team going to a World Cup".

Tuesday's recommendation is expected to be ratified by Fifa's executive committee in Zurich in March.

The proposal has been backed by Uefa president Michel Platini, the Confederation of African Football and Concacaf - the confederation responsible for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The Asian Football Confederation president is Sheikh Salman.

Serbian Football Association vice-president Savo Milosevic called it a "good decision" as it would coincide with their winter break.

But it has prompted an angry response from a number of influential football figures, among them Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, who has accused Fifa of "damaging" the traditions of the English game by disrupting the Christmas schedule.

Neville, however, believes the positives outweigh the negatives for the English game and the national team, whose one and only World Cup success came in 1966.

"We've cried out for a long time for a mid-winter break," added Neville. "Maybe this will give us a great chance of winning a World Cup."

England striker Wayne Rooney has played an average of 50 matches for club and country in the seasons preceding the last three World Cups.

In 2022, a typical England player at a club competing in the Champions League could expect to have played only 14 matches games between the start and the season and the end of October.

(BBC)