Germany coach Joachim Low believes England have improved considerably under Roy Hodgson and are a much better side than they were in 2010.
Germany coach says Three Lions have improved under Hodgson
Germany coach Joachim Low believes England have improved considerably under Roy Hodgson and are a much better side than they were in 2010.
England suffered their heaviest tournament defeat at the hands of Low's Germany two years ago, with a 4-1 humbling in the last-16 of the 2010 World Cup sending them home with their tail between their legs.
They may get the opportunity to avenge that pummelling at Euro 2012, with it possible that two old adversaries will meet once again at the semi-final stage of a major international event.
Germany are already safely through to the last four after crushing Greece 4-2 on Friday, while England face Italy in the quarter-finals on Sunday.
Low is aware that England are a more formidable proposition now than they were in South Africa, and credits Hodgson with turning their fortunes around since inheriting the managerial reins from Fabio Capello just weeks before Euro 2012.
Compact
"England are much better under Roy Hodgson than in 2010," he said.
"They are much better organised, they counter-attack fast.
"Roy in a short time, and he is known for this, has really built a good, compact team and got them ready.
"They are not so open any more, they are not as divided as they were in 2010 and they really play well as a team.
"Roy has managed to organise this team very well and they are tactically better than in 2010."
Low believes Italy have certain strengths too, however.
Organised
"Italy are very good at the back and can play very well," he added.
"They are very organised and have fast, dangerous players up front.
"Both teams will be difficult to play against and all teams who make the semi-finals will have a chance of winning the tournament.
"I think there will be four teams who will be at a very high level. You can't really differentiate.
"We know in games like this small things can decide a game, so you can't allow yourselves to make a mistake."
