Eriksson full of confidence ahead of World Cup

By George Burns Jun 6, 2006, 14:33 GMT

Baden-Baden, Germany - England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said Tuesday that he is extremely confident that his side can go all the way and win the World Cup, even if star striker Wayne Rooney loses his fight to be fit in time.

'I'm extremely happy with everything so far,' said the Swede after the England squad's first training session in the sports ground at Buehlertal.

The England team arrived Monday at their World Cup headquarters in the luxurious Schlosshotel Buehlerhoehe high in the Black Forest.

Eriksson said that apart from the injury worries over Rooney, who is struggling to recover from a broken foot and will undergo a scan Wednesday, his team is fitter and better prepared than ever before.

'If you talk about fitness level no doubt,' he said. 'Since I'm in charge definitely. You can't compare it with (Euro 2004 in) Portugal. They are fit, they are confident, much more confident than in the last tournament.'

The 58-year-old admitted the pressure was on the likes of England, Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Holland but that he was happy with this situation.

'I want to have a job where pressure is very, very high,' he said. 'If you don't have a lot of pressure on the team you are working with that means you have a very bad team. Who wants to have a bad team?'

Eriksson said he was 'sure that the players can cope with that and live up to that'.

'We'll need a little bit of luck to do what we want to do,' he added. 'I'm looking forward to it very much. I've been looking forward to this for the last two years since we went out in Portugal.'

Eriksson said his team was now more mature and many of his squad had become better footballers.

'They know today that they can beat any team,' he said.

'I don't think I'm different, I'm more confident, much more confident. I know that I have a very, very good football team,' concluded Eriksson.