Dembele offers both compliments and concerns after narrow loss

But Fulham forward Dembele also refused to rule out Roy Hodgson’s men going all the way to the European Championship final.

England were on the back foot for long periods in Saturday’s 1-0 win against a young Belgium side but still managed to extend Hodgson’s 100 per cent record for his two games in charge.

Euro 2012 Group D opponents France, Sweden and Ukraine would hardly have been quaking in their boots, though, especially as the Belgians did not qualify.

Dembele, 24, said: “England have a very good squad but I’m not afraid of them. We could compete with them.

“They have a lot of experience as well – we don’t have this. (But) we don’t have to look up to them.”

Dembele was unsure how England would fare at Euro 2012 but pointed out Hodgson took an unfancied Fulham side all the way to the Europa League final two years ago. The playmaker, who moved to Craven Cottage the following season, said: “I heard from my team-mates at Fulham that he’s a very good coach as well and he has good organisation. He brought Fulham to a final, so you never know.”

Thomas Vermaelen, who captained Belgium on Saturday after Vincent Kompany was injured during the warm-up, said of England: “They have a lot of experienced players, good players.

“They all play in the Premier League, so I think they will do well in the Europeans.”

Defender Vermaelen found himself up against Arsenal team-mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for the first time on Saturday after the winger was handed his England debut.

Vermaelen was delighted to see the 18-year-old given his big break.

“He’s really brave when he plays and I think players who are really brave, they should be rewarded for that,” said Vermaelen, who admitted Belgium only had themselves to blame for failing to pull off a famous Wembley win.

“We played okay. We controlled the game. At the end, it’s about the result.

“I think England played really well tactically and they got the score on their side. We had a lot of chances but I think we weren’t sharp enough in front of goal.

“I think we have to work on that.”

Despite not reaching Euro 2012, Belgium are undergoing something of a renaissance, with a star-studded line-up tipped to reach the next World Cup.