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England can win World Cup: Eriksson

February 01, 2006 11:47 IST

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson believes his team are among five that could triumph at this year's World Cup finals in Germany.

"I've always said we're one of five teams that can win it and if all our players are fit and healthy, I think we'll do very well," Eriksson told Swedish news agency TT on Tuesday.

He was in Stockholm to receive a medal from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf as his home country honoured the coach for his contributions to national and international soccer.

Eriksson first came to prominence in 1982 when he coached Swedish first division club IFK Gothenburg to the UEFA Cup.

Last week Eriksson agreed to step down as England coach after the World Cup following a sting by a British Sunday newspaper in which he told a journalist posing as an Arab businessman that he would be prepared to dump England.

Asked what he intends to do after the finals, Eriksson said: "After the World Cup today seems like a completely different life, but it will be soccer.

"But I don't have a clue what I'll do. Right now it's all about the World Cup and I look forward to it."

The World Cup begins in Munich on June 9 and features 32 teams playing 64 matches at 12 venues in Germany, culminating in the final at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin on July 9.

 

Source: REUTERS
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