All England need now is luck, Eriksson insists

Published on Saturday 10 June 2006 00:24

ROONEYMANIA notwithstanding, England are probably as ready as they will ever be to begin a World Cup campaign here in Frankfurt today which Sven-Goran Eriksson insists will end with the golden trophy in the hands of David Beckham in Berlin on 9 July.

Despite the incessant, six-week media clamour over the most famous fractured metatarsal on Earth and the more recent scare over Steven Gerrard's fitness for the opening match against Paraguay, Eriksson in all likelihood will be privately quite pleased that there have been interruptions.

Nobody in his position really wants to use up all his good luck before the tournament is under way. Like golfers superstitious about leaving their best putts on the practice green, managers begin to quiver when preparations run as smoothly as well-oiled castors.

Nothing is won on the training field or in pre-tournament friendlies and, if England's form has appeared a little uncertain - the 6-0 victory in a grotesque mismatch against Jamaica at Old Trafford last Saturday is hardly admissible as a top-level performance - the manager will have convinced himself and his players that the programme has been designed exclusively to bring them to a peak for the trials of the next four weeks.

The luck element entered the manager's conversation yesterday, after England's final work-out at the Waldstadion. In repeating his belief that his team are "one of the four or five" who can win the trophy, Eriksson recalled what he regarded as misfortune in his two previous major championships, the World Cup in 2002 and Euro 2004.

"We have a great team and I have believed for a long time that we will win the World Cup," he said. "That has not changed. I just hope we have the luck on our side this time, because we didn't have it last time.

"It's not as if, in the last two tournaments, we have not played well and lost by 5-0 or anything. We lost on penalties against Portugal two years ago and 2-1 to Brazil at the last World Cup." He seemed to prefer not to mention that he also lost Wayne Rooney, also with a broken metatarsal, during that match with Portugal.

Eriksson, however, has failed so far to persuade professional observers of his own capabilities in terms of landing the most glittering prize of all.

The doubts over his ability to make astute and telling decisions under the pressure of match conditions are rooted in experience. While Eriksson retains the esteem of a substantial number of England supporters, there are said to be at least as many - including a media who have been chronicling his efforts over the past five-and-a-half years - who hold him culpable for the failures in those previous campaigns. Some still feel the pain from four years ago, when England failed to protect a lead against a Brazil side who had been reduced to ten with the ordering-off of Ronaldinho. Eriksson was also forced to admit later that he had misled the public over the fitness of Beckham, who, like Rooney now, was recovering from a broken metatarsal.

Having assured his audience that the midfielder was at peak fitness, he conceded later that the player had only been at about 70 per cent. There was also widespread criticism of the coach's part in the elimination in Portugal, the main thrust of it directed at his seeming bewilderment when called upon to make changes, either tactically or in personnel.

None of this, however, could diminish his optimism yesterday. Nor could the rather discouraging statistic that England have won only one of their opening matches in the last nine major championships they have contested. That was the 2-0 victory over Tunisia at France 98.

Less formidable opponents than Paraguay could have come out of the hat for this next attempt at laying the hoodoo; Trinidad and Tobago, for example, one of the other members of Group B, along with Sweden.

Anibal Ruiz's side may not be as powerful as their South American neighbours, Brazil and Argentina, but they are contesting their third consecutive World Cup finals and have several players earning a living in Europe.

Their revered defender, Carlos Gamarra, will win his 105th cap, but, at 35, there are questions to be asked of him by England's attack partnership, Michael Owen and Peter Crouch. With the veteran Jose Cardozo out of the tournament with a late injury - Dante Lopez of Genoa has been summoned - Ruiz will play two Germany-based strikers, Roque Santa Cruz of Bayern Munich and Nelson Valdez of Borussia Dortmund.

The likely inclusion of Santa Cruz is a serious gamble by Ruiz, the 24-year-old Bayern player having been out for six months following a knee operation.

England certainly appear more rugged in defence than their opponents, but, until events prove otherwise, there remain doubts about their own front line, Owen and Crouch.

The Newcastle striker has yet to convince he has recovered his sharpness after five months of inactivity with the same injury as Rooney, while the towering Crouch, angular, lanky and often appearing to lack co-ordination, does not have the mobility of a Rooney.

But, as midfielder Gerrard said, "If Peter does make it difficult for defenders and they get tough with him, it will bring us valuable free kicks or even penalty kicks."

Gerrard himself has recovered from the back spasms that caused him to miss training in midweek, but Eriksson will check him this morning for any signs of reaction to yesterday's work. If, as seems unlikely, he were to miss out, he would be replaced by Tottenham's Jermaine Jenas.

Considering his experience with Beckham four years ago and the protracted ballyhoo surrounding Rooney, Eriksson gave a curious answer to the question of what he had learned from his experiences in Portugal and Japan and Korea.

"I've learned that, most of all, you must be physically fit and very well conditioned. This time, I managed to get an extra week of preparation and that will serve us well in the later stages of the tournament. But I am confident because I believe we have a better squad than we did two years and four years ago.

"I know there is an enormous weight of expectation on England, but I also know that my players will handle that. They are very experienced, very talented.

"How do I feel on the eve of the World Cup? Like my players, very keen to get started, now that all the work is done."

For all the pressure that has been exerted on him by a demanding public during his tenure, the Swede still managed to sign off with a slightly self-deprecating joke. Mindful that he is to quit after the World Cup, he was asked if he would like to leave the job with an honorary knighthood. Eriksson replied: "I hope to leave it alive."

Survivor Ruiz not motivated by riches

IF A financial disadvantage were a decisive factor, Anibal Ruiz might as well have stayed at home.

The 63-year-old coach of Paraguay, England's opponents in this afternoon's opening Group B match here in Frankfurt, presides over a team whose home-based players earn an average of 105 a month, about half of what David Beckham is said to spend on a weekly visit to the barber's.

Ruiz's income, when set beside the annual 4.5 million that has been dropping into Sven-Goran Eriksson's account, gives him, in a football context, street urchin status. None of this, however, is likely to faze the veteran campaigner.

Uruguay-born, Ruiz was in charge of Paraguay's under-20 side four years ago, when his predecessor was sacked by the notoriously intolerant national association. He was named interim coach.

When Brazil returned in triumph from the 2002 World Cup, they decided to hold a celebratory match against their little neighbours. Ruiz achieved the seemingly impossible by leading Paraguay to a 1-0 victory and was immediately installed as long-term coach.

He has been there ever since, despite widespread disapproval during qualifying. Following a 5-2 defeat by Ecuador and a 4-1 whipping from Brazil, Ruiz was booed at some home games. But, in South America, the qualifying series covers a marathon 15 matches.

The Paraguayan FA, however, stood by their man and he came good with three straight wins, including a defeat of Argentina, to qualify.

It is to Ruiz's advantage that the great majority of his squad play abroad, in Mexico, Argentina, Italy, Spain, Germany and even Japan.

It may cost him a month's wages to buy a pair of Sven's designer glasses, but he has the kind of track record that could give the cool Swede a bit of heat.