Eriksson: England will win WC
2006-05-24 08:47
London - Sven-Goran Eriksson is hoping to
end his colourful reign as England manager with a World Cup
triumph that would silence the critics who have pursued him
since his historic appointment in 2000.
In fact, he is so confident that he became the first England
manager since Alf Ramsey in 1963 to predict that England will
end the tournament as World Champions.
Ramsey was proved right in 1966. Whether Eriksson will be
celebrating England's first success since then on July 9 in
Berlin remains open to some considerable doubt.
At England's training camp in Portugal last week, he
declared: "I think we will win it. All we need is a little bit
of luck with injuries and referees. The expectation is a
motivation, not a burden."
Whether a spate of injuries before the finals is going to
hamper that dream remains to be seen but what is certain is that he will be tested like no other potential World Cup winning
coach because of the health scares surrounding his team.
In a way it is just another problem for the Swede to deal
with. Problems and controversies have been his companions since
the Football Association named him as England's first foreign
coach in the wake of a shambolic defeat by Germany under Kevin
Keegan in their final game at Wembley.
The 'Little Englanders' among the British media have never
forgiven Eriksson for being born in Torsby, rather than Torquay.
Others have criticised his substitutions in big games,
notably in the 2002 World Cup quarter-final exit to Brazil, his
faith in David Beckham as a captain and a midfielder and his
lack of fire-and-brimstone motivational skills.
A dismal run of results last year, starting with an
embarrassing 4-1 friendly defeat in Denmark and ending with a
humiliating qualifying loss in Northern Ireland, have also had
newspapers baying for Eriksson's blood.
The biggest problems facing the bespectacled 58-year-old,
however, have been off the pitch, culminating in the tabloid
newspaper sting operation in January that prompted the
announcement of his departure after the World Cup.
Fake sheikh
A reporter posing as an Arab businessman, notorious in the
British media as the "fake sheikh", drew Eriksson into making
regrettable comments about England players and English football.
The FA, who had stood by Eriksson during his much-publicised
affairs with television celebrity Ulrika Jonsson in 2002 and
former FA secretary Faria Alam in 2004, along with the 2003
revelations that he had been discussing a possible move to
Chelsea, had finally had enough.
Though the matter was handled diplomatically by both sides,
Eriksson later made it clear that leaving England had not been
his decision.
In Germany, the scene of his greatest moment as England
manager in their famous 5-1 victory in a 2002 World Cup
qualifier, Eriksson has a chance to make all his critics eat
their words.
Having reached the quarter-finals four years ago, and again
in Portugal at Euro 2004, England could well make a run to the
semi-finals, a creditable enough result in itself.
However, with the prodigious talent of 20-year-old striker
Wayne Rooney, the goal sense of Michael Owen and the formidable
midfield pairing of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, Eriksson
knows that England could go further still.
The problem he faces is whether Rooney or even Owen will be
fit for the finals.