international football

England face their first test of life after Wayne Rooney when manager Sven-Goran Eriksson pits his World Cup starting line-up against Hungary at Old Trafford in Manchester tonight.
After watching his B team crash to a disappointing defeat against Belarus last week, Eriksson will be looking for a more convincing outing from his senior players as the final countdown to Germany begins in earnest.
With Manchester United star Rooney injured and unlikely to be available for any of England’s first-phase World Cup matches, Peter Crouch will partner Michael Owen in Eriksson’s preferred 4-4-2 line-up.
But despite a dazzling display from right-sided midfielder Aaron Lennon in the 2-1 defeat by Belarus, Eriksson emphasised that captain David Beckham remained his first choice.
“Lennon does his damage on the right, but Beckham also does his damage on the right. How many crosses does he put in?” Eriksson said.
“I think everybody agrees with the starting 11. I know the team and you would pick the same team,” he told journalists at England’s training camp.
After the friendly, England face a match against Jamaica on Saturday, also at Old Trafford, before going to Germany on June 5.
Eriksson has vowed to start both this week’s games with the team he expects to use in the World Cup opener against Paraguay on June 10.
This means his trusted midfield quartet of Beckham on the right, Joe Cole on the left, with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the centre.
“If Beckham is fit, if Lampard is fit, if Gerrard is fit and if Joe Cole is fit, they should start.
“The fact is that all four midfielders are in great form and they are all in excellent condition.
“It’s not like before Japan, when Beckham was 70%, half- injured. They are all 100% fit. They all did the fitness tests and were much better than two years ago and there was a huge difference to four years ago.”
Eriksson bristled at suggestions that he would never drop Beckham. He also hit back at claims that he had been wrong to pick his skipper at the last World Cup, when he had only just recovered from a broken foot.
“In Japan, Beckham deserved to play, even though he was not 100%. We did not have Lennon in Japan,” Eriksson said.
The England boss stressed his belief that livewire Aaron Lennon (19) would have the greatest impact coming off the bench late in games. Lennon’s usual position is wide on the right, but the Swede thinks he could also fill the Rooney role behind the main striker. “I am sure Lennon could play as a second striker in the last 20 minutes.”
The England manager is also happy with senior striker Owen, even though he has not played 90 minutes of a match for six months. Owen is just back from a broken foot but insists he is over the injury and just needs to sharpen his match instincts.
“I’m not worried about Michael Owen. He has been on this stage for a long time, scoring goals,” he said. “Physically, he is a lot better than before Japan or Portugal. He is lacking match tempo but he is very strong.
“He is focused. He has not played for a long time but he works hard and looks sharp. Two more games and he will be okay.”
With 35 goals in 75 appearances, Owen has his eyes firmly set on Bobby Charlton’s all-time record of 49 goals. The Newcastle United striker said he was aiming for a healthy goal tally at the World Cup to put him within touching distance of Charlton.
“I have been in four tournaments and scored in all of them,” said Owen. “But there hasn’t been one where I have made an impression by scoring five or six.
“That’s my aim now and if I can get off the mark against Paraguay, it will give me all the confidence I need to have a great World Cup.”
Owen said he was not bothered by failing to get on the scoresheet against Belarus, squandering a gilt-edged chance early on.
“Goals are an important part of my game. It would be great to score in the warm-up games, but I have always got my eye on the big ones when it really matters.
“I am confident I will be right when the huge games come. It is all a matter of fine tuning.”