Newcastle United defender Nikos Dabizas believes England should feel "very lucky" that they are going to the 2002 World Cup as automatic qualifiers.

Dabizas and his Greek teammates were just seconds away from a memorable victory at Old Trafford on Saturday until David Beckham's injury time equaliser, which sealed England's place in next year's World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

After their 5-1 hammering against Finland last month, few fancied the Greeks chances against an England side fresh from a 5-1 win over bitter rivals Germany.

However, Greece's performance at the weekend didn't surprise Dabizas at all.

He said: "We are not so bad as some people might think. We've had some bad results, but I know the talent of the Greek players.

"Sometimes we cannot combine that with the right mentality but we were right on Saturday against England.

"We are capable of doing very good things and we showed that at Old Trafford. We owed it to ourselves to play well, and I was certain we would be better than against Finland.

"I think England should feel very lucky that they are going to the World Cup automatically and not having to go through the play-offs."

He added: "It was a good lift for us because now the World Cup is over we will begin our group programme for the 2004 European Championships, and the next few games before that are vital for building team spirit.

"Players have to remember that it's the ultimate honour to represent their country and they must respond accordingly."

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