Jose Mourinho believes the absence of England's players and supporters is to the detriment of Euro 2008 - and has backed Spain to take full advantage.

The Portuguese was one of those approached to replace Steve McClaren when the former Middlesbrough boss failed to guide England through to finals in Austria and Switzerland which start on Saturday.

And although he spurned that offer in favour of club management, in which he took charge of Inter Milan this week, Mourinho is a major advocate of the English game and believes the national team will be sorely missed over the coming weeks.

The former Chelsea manager said: "England has massive support, always travels with thousands of fans and has players like Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney.

"These are the kinds of players that Euros and World Cups need - so from that individual point of view they will miss them."

Mourinho has also risked the wrath of his new neighbours by predicting that Spain, rather than Italy, are best placed to lift the trophy on June 29.

In particular, he believes the "easy" season enjoyed by the players of runaway Primera Liga champions Real Madrid bodes well for Luis Aragones's team - who are seeking their first major tournament victory since the European Championships of 1964.

Speaking to Ford's football debate website www.feelfootball.com, he added: "I think Spain has a lot of good players, many players that are playing outside of Spain who have adapted to a different football culture. They have players in England playing at this level and I think that is very important for them.

"Real Madrid players, in my opinion, are in great condition because the season was quite easy for them. It was not difficult. They didn't play (much) Champions League because they were out in the last 16 and the league was easy for them because Barcelona was losing all the time so they didn't have pressure.

"So I think all of the boys who play for Real Madrid are in great condition to go and the same applies to Valencia players because they didn't play many matches during the season. So I believe they can arrive into a good position.

"Tradition says Spain is very strong at club level but didn't gel really well in national team final phases - but who knows if they can do it this time."