Sven hopes Beckham will bring him the Swede taste of success

SVEN-GORAN Eriksson has warned Argentina that David Beckham will be re-energised for his chance to avenge his bitter memories of the 1998 World Cup in Friday’s vital group game.

Eriksson insists England’s World Cup hopes are still very much alive despite their lacklustre second half display in an opening 1-1 draw against his native Sweden.

He declared his continued faith in his young players, but knows that he needs Beckham at his sharpest in Sapporo to take on an Argentina side that earlier managed to beat Nigeria 1-0 with several gears to spare.

The England captain returned after his foot injury to deliver the pinpoint corner from which Sol Campbell put his side ahead on 24 minutes.

However, he was forced out of the action after 63 minutes due to tiredness, just after Everton midfielder Niclas Alexandersson had equalised following an error by Danny Mills.

Eriksson was thereafter indebted to a series of superb saves by David Seaman as Sweden, who have not been beaten by England in 34 years, came close to giving them an even more imposing qualification mountain to climb.

At least Eriksson is confident Beckham will be fit to start against Argentina despite his second-half substitution.

Indeed, the England coach believes that his inspirational midfielder will not only benefit from a further five days’ preparation time but also from the hour that he spent on the pitch in Saitama.

‘‘David hasn’t played a match for almost eight weeks so of course you can’t expect him to play for 90 minutes in a good way,’’ insisted Eriksson.

‘‘He had some difficulties running after a while in the second half but I don’t have any doubts that he’ll be fit for Argentina.

Beckham admitted that he started to feel pain in his troubled left foot in the second half as his influence waned, although he insisted that he is ‘‘90% fit‘‘.

Beckham added: ‘‘A lot of the lads are down in the dressing room but there’s no need to be as we’ve not lost the game. I think we played some really good football in the first half.”

While recognising the weaknesses of his side in the second half, as they lost possession too often and defended too deeply, Eriksson was defiantly optimistic about their qualification hopes.

He declared: ‘‘We now have two finals coming up if we want to go further in the World Cup. It’s difficult for us but also for Argentina.

‘‘It’s a very difficult group and all the teams are very strong. Sweden are may be not as brilliant as Argentina but they are very difficult to beat and very well organised.

‘‘However, we did not lose our first game so we can still look forward with great faith.’’