Dino Maamria: 'I expect England to go all the way'
Stevenage coach Dino Maamria hails from Tunisia but is supremely confident that his adopted England will triumph at the World Cup in Russia this summer.
Having grown up in the North African desert, the vivacious coach told 'Sky Sports News' that it was England's Gary Lineker who made the greatest impression on him growing up.
''I had this little baby goat and I called it Gary because Gary Lineker in the 1986 World Cup was a real poacher and my goat was always next to the goal when I was playing football. I got quite friendly with him,'' he joked.
Maamria then went on to make a career out of his love for football, first as a player for Burnley, before making the move into coaching and management. Having spent the best part of 23 years in England, he has become quite the Anglophile.
''I want England to win the World Cup and Tunisia to qualify for the second round. I keep asking my little boy Leo 'who do you want to win?' and he keeps saying 'I want both to win' and I've told him both can't win,'' he explained.
The Stevenage boss is certainly confident of England's prospects, adding: "I think England are in a very good place to attack this World Cup and it is going to be very difficult for Tunisia, Belgium or anybody. I expect England to go all the way this year."
So what is the reason for Maamria's conviction of English glory? He spent time with Gareth Southgate during the U21 Championships in 2015, and believes that the England boss is the key to success.
He said: ''Gareth is very good at what he does. I can see the change in the way the team play. We have more pace and aggression in attacking areas, especially with Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy's form.''
''We've had more talented teams over the past 20 years since I've been here, much better players like Steven Gerrard and the Golden Generation, but this group is more together and organised with Gareth.''
He added: "They been together a long time and progressed through the ranks and that will give them the edge. There is a lot of positivity around them and that is going to take them a long way."
On the flip side, Maamria is all too aware of the struggles Tunisia will face in the group stages. He said: ''There is a big conflict as the manager Nabil Maloul is bringing in a lot of players who play outside of Tunisia and the public are not happy about that because they think there are better players in the Tunisian league than players who have got no connection with Tunisian football because they were born and played in France."
"Also their best player - Youssef Msakni - is out of the World Cup; it's like Portugal without Cristiano Ronaldo or Argentina without Lionel Messi. So they will be relying heavily on Wahbi Khazri, who was at Sunderland a couple of years ago.''
He concluded: ''In Tunisia the people don't have a lot but they have football. A good campaign will inspire the next generation but it is going to be very difficult for them."