Eriksson feels England now has winning mentality

By George Burns Jun 10, 2006, 18:23 GMT

An England supporter cheers after he watched the FIFA World Cup 2006 match between England and Paraguay at the Main Arena, a public viewing spot at the Main River in Frankfurt/Main, Saturday 10 June 2006. England won 1-0. EPA/UWE ZUCCHI

Frankfurt - Michael Owen lacked punch, Wayne Rooney was missing and Peter Crouch tried hard. But despite England's blunt attack, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson felt that his men finally showed the mentality to win a World Cup.

An own goal by Paraguay captain Carlos Gamarra after just four minutes - coming off a David Beckham free kick - was enough to seal England's 1-0 win Saturday in Group B.

It was their first winning opener in a major tournament since a 2- 0 defeat of Tunisia at the 1998 World Cup, which was followed by a 1- 1 draw with Sweden at the 2002 cup and a 2-1 loss to France at Euro 2004.

'Four years ago a draw, two years ago we lost in the last minute against France,' Eriksson told reporters. 'Today we suffered at the end, but we held it.'

The Swede said his team had trouble with the heat inside the Frankfurt stadium, which he compared to the weather at the 2002 World Cup quarter-final defeat to Brazil in Japan.

'We suffered, but in football you suffer,' he said.

English fans suffered, too, during the last 86 minutes as their team wasted a string of scoring chances against the South Americans.

But Eriksson refused to accept that England looked blunt in attack.

'I don't regret what I did when I picked the team,' he said curtly. 'If you can find some better players than Rooney and Michael Owen, congratulations. I can't.'

He conceded that he might move Liverpool's Steven Gerrard or Chelsea's Joe Cole up front as both midfielders have played in the position for their clubs.

One area the England coach isn't concerned about is defence. The Paraguayan striking pair of Nelson Haedo Valdez and Roque Santa Cruz got no change out of John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.

'The defence was terrific,' Eriksson beamed. But he admitted that his side will have to improve considerably to be considered serious contenders for the World Cup.

'I think that to win the World Cup we will have to play better football, but we will play better football,' he said. 'I'm happy. A good start.'