Soccer: Litmanen can Finnish England's World Cup dream

Finland coach Antti Muurinen has warned England their 2002 World Cup dream could be turned into a nightmare by Jari Litmanen.

The Liverpool man turns from hero to potential villain at Anfield when he aims to spearhead his country's first ever win on English soil.

Litmanen has been revitalised mentally and physically since his move to England and is prepared to carry the modest hopes of his nation on his shoulders.

"Jari is a trailblazer - the first big star from Finland," Muurinen said.

"His state of mind is much more confident now because he's playing for a manager who believes in him; he's had some games - and everything more or less shows he is very, very fit. He will be a very important player."

Litmanen can hardly believe the irony of a situation which pits him against many of his club-mates on his home team's ground.

"I would like to play at Wembley," he said. "But now it is not possible and for me personally it is nice to play at Anfield. It will be a special feeling to have an away game on my home ground."

Both Muurinen and Litmanen are confident they are present at the beginning of the rise to respectability of Finnish football, for so long bracketed alongside the continent's also-rans.

But Muurinen is under no illusions as to the size of his team's task and has instilled in them the importance of strangling the creative influence of David Beckham in particular.

"There are only going to be good players playing against us - especially all the midfield and forward players," said Muurinen.

"The whole of our defence has to be alert and has to stop those passes from Beckham which can be so dangerous. We have to cut them out before they start."

Litmanen, like his clubmate Sami Hyypia, is particularly relishing the prospect of pitting his wits against the likes of Liverpool team-mates like Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard.

It is in the resurgent Owen that Litmanen sees the greatest threat to his ambition of leading his country to their best ever win.

"He is a good striker and a dangerous player. He can score goals and is always a danger, so we must be careful of him," said Litmanen.

"I am happy that most of the time he is on my side."