Bastian Schweinsteiger questions England's credentials

Bastian Schweinsteiger has told England that they must take a leaf out of Germany's book if they want to be successful on the international stage.

The Bayern Munich midfielder believes that the Three Lions should be deemed as one of the pre-tournament favourites ahead of Euro 2012, but suggested that they will never win anything unless they learn to play as a team.

Schweinsteiger also questioned the mental strength of the England camp, stating that Germany would never have capitulated if they had a goal disallowed, such as Frank Lampard's strike was in South Africa.

Joachim Low's team went on to rout Fabio Capello's men 4-1 in Bloemfontein.

"I always think England should be one of the favourites, going into these tournaments, but you still haven't found the answer to playing as a team, rather than as a group of individuals," said the 27-year-old.

"England have very good individuals, but maybe they are not so good as a unit. If England want to win something, they have to find a solution to that. They have to start playing more like we do.

"Would we have crumbled if the opposite had happened in the World Cup in Bloemfontein and the referee had turned down a goal for us? No. We Germans never give up, we fight to the last. We just have that mentality and we also have a playing quality. We have other attributes, as well as character."

Schweinsteiger has earned 90 caps for his country.