The Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Scudamore, has advised the Football Association to look to Costa Rica for inspiration rather than blame the influx of foreign talent to the Premier League for England’s travails.
Costa Rica qualified for the second round of the 2014 World Cup at England’s expense with a team of largely unheralded players.
“Why shouldn’t the England team come from the top 12 teams in the Championship and bottom 10 teams of the Premier League, if they’re English and they’re good enough?” said Scudamore in an interview with the Telegraph.
“Costa Rica played very well in the World Cup and where are they playing their league football?
“We get hung up about they can’t possibly be good enough unless they’re playing for Chelsea or Manchester United. Of course they can be good enough.”
He also revealed has not given up hope of introducing the controversial 39th game to the competition but believes they may be beaten to it by La Liga, the Bundesliga or Serie A.
“They’ve all got the international round on the agenda – the Italians, Germans and Spanish are all looking at how to do it,” he said.
“We’d still like to do it, but it’s less likely for us now than it’s ever been. I’d be delighted if another country got there first, as it might make it more likely that we could do it.”
