Determined Eriksson is already looking to the future

Published on Friday 25 June 2004 14:26

SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON insisted he is staying on as England coach after his side’s Euro 2004 defeat on penalties by Portugal - as he is determined to make it past the quarter-finals of a major tournament.

Eriksson revealed that David Beckham was partly blaming himself for England’s heart-wrenching exit last night after he missed his third consecutive penalty for his country.

The Real Madrid midfielder skied his shot over the bar. While Rui Costa also missed, Darius Vassell’s effort was saved by keeper Ricardo, who then struck his own spot-kick past David James. And so, having lost to Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Brazil side in the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals, Eriksson was defeated by ‘Big Phil’s’ Portugal team at the same stage of the Euro 2004 finals.

The Swede is nevertheless determined to stay on in the post, especially having signed a two-year contract extension to 2008 only two months ago.

"Yes, I am going to stay. After all the fuss, yes I am staying," he insisted, with the Chelsea post now filled by Jose Mourinho. "It’s the World Cup in two years’ time and I want to play more than quarter-finals in the big tournaments - maybe even the final."

England’s qualifying campaign starts in September, with back-to-back qualifiers against Austria and Poland, with Wales, Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan also to come.

And on Beckham’s feelings about the penalty miss, Eriksson revealed: "I’ve talked to the squad, of course, in the dressing-room after the game and he [Beckham] might be blaming himself - but football is like that, especially when you go to penalty shoot-outs."