Jensen says the respect that exists for the England manager even overrides the traditional Scandinavian rivalry between Denmark and Sweden.

“He has got a lot of respect from Denmark,” said Jensen as his home nation prepares to host Sven’s England in Wednesday night’s friendly.

“We don’t have many successful coaches or managers who come from Scandinavia who have success in Europe but he is one of them. He has got lots of respect from Danish managers and trainers.”

Jensen, who is himself on the coaching ladder as Michael Laudrup’s assistant at Brondby, also believes that Sven and his players have the ability to make quite an impression in Germany, qualification permitting.

“I hopefully think that they will go all the way and get to the final,” he said.

“It has to be the time now when England gets to a final. The people and the players and everything about it, they have been looking forward to it, dreaming about it. I think the time is now and I think you have got the players to go the final.”

The former Arsenal fans favourite, who still stays in regular contact with many of his old friends at Highbury, is also an admirer of England’s own midfield engine, Steven Gerrard.

“Gerrard has got to be one of my favourite England players,” he confirmed.

"He is a strong midfielder, similar to our own Thomas Gravesen. He can win the ball, score goals and make forward runs. He is a very important player for England and, for me, must be one of the top three midfielders in the world.”