Argentineans are not Supermen at all
KOBE, Japan, June 4 (DS) -
England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson announced he faces the greatest challenge of his career: to raise the spirits of the England players for their vital World Cup clash with one of the favourites of the tournament, Argentina.
The 54-year-old Swede admitted his squad's self-belief and confidence had suffered a mighty blow following England's disappointing 1-1 draw in Sunday's opening game against Sweden.
Eriksson underscored that restoring morale ahead of Friday's showdown with arch rivals Argentina will be a harder task than any tactical battle he might face against the Argentinean national team.
"Raising the spirits of the players for the Argentina game is more important than whether we play 4-4-2 or 4-4-3," the England manager was quoted as saying in an interview with the Mirror.
"If you don't have the right mentality and go out thinking you are a loser, then you are going to lose. That is something that concerned me after the Sweden game and I told the players that. I must be positive too. If a manager goes around never smiling, almost crying, very tense and nervous, then that transmits negative energy to the players.
"If we doubt ourselves then we should go home at once. Argentina are a great team with fantastic players, but it's not impossible to beat them. They are not Supermen at all.
"These next few days before we play them are extremely important for us and no-one involved with England underestimates that fact. We can play better and we will do, I'm sure. If you think football is champagne and roses every day, then you should change your profession."
The England manager also hinted that he may choose to start skipper David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Kieron Dyer against Argentina, despite the fact all three are returning from injury and cannot be said to be fully fit.
