England told to 'seize the moment'

Sven-Goran Eriksson will tell his players to have no fear in today’s World Cup second round against Denmark as this is the stage for them to prove their potential.

Eriksson accepts that his players have under-performed at certain stages during this World Cup, especially in the second-half against Sweden in their opening game.

Denmark were aiming to pose a similarly uncompromising challenge to Sweden, with a pacier wing threat to add to their hard-working midfield.

Eriksson will nevertheless remind his team of their superb display in defeating Argentina and ask them to ‘‘seize the moment’’ by producing more of the same.

He believes the key factors in what is expected to be a tight game in Niigata at the start of the knock-out stages will be ‘‘patience, keeping our shape and not being afraid’’.

Amid the possibility of a golden goal or penalty shoot-out, his final dressing-room message to his team will simply be along the lines of ‘‘go out and play football as you can play’’.

Eriksson added: ‘‘For every game you survive, the nerves and pressure on you will be bigger and bigger. But if you are a big team then you have to deal with that.

‘‘If we can play more or less as we did against Argentina, I should be very happy.’’

His team and tactics are set to be unchanged, with Trevor Sinclair, who replaced Owen Hargreaves early in that game and kept his place against Nigeria, being retained on the left flank once again.

Eriksson will be hoping to avoid the need for penalties, given not only England’s disastrous spot-kick history but also his own record of one victory and two defeats in shoot-outs at club level.

‘‘Patience is important. We have to attack but not with all 10 outfield players. When you come towards the end of the game and it’s still a draw, then it’s difficult mentally,’’ he admitted.

The intended penalty-takers are nevertheless lined up, with David Beckham, Michael Owen, Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand all in the frame along with Teddy Sheringham if he is on the pitch.

Much before then will depend on whether England’s two world-class stars, Beckham and Owen, can rise to the challenge, even though this is a World Cup in which teamwork has so far predominated.

Owen has yet to score in the tournament, but Eriksson insisted: ‘‘He was very lively in the last game, is getting better and better, and he will score.’’

Above all, he is also hoping the thousands of England fans expected in the stadium, allied to the flood of support back home, can carry the team through to a quarter-final against Brazil or Belgium.

‘‘My message to the supporters in England? That they all support us in front of the television. I just hope we can make them have another happy weekend,’’ declared the England coach.