England are now feared, declares Sven

Sven-Goran Eriksson declared that the rest of Europe should be worried about England as he insisted their preparations were correct ahead of the Euro 2004 finals.

England ensured the perfect send-off in their final warm-up game, hitting six goals past Iceland at the City of Manchester stadium, with Wayne Rooney and Darius Vassell both scoring twice.

When asked whether other countries would now be apprehensive about facing England, Eriksson said: "I think so. England is a big football country with a lot of extremely good players. In England, we look at when Italy or France make a big result. I think it's the same when they look at us."

Eriksson has no major injury worries ahead of next Sunday's group opener against France, with John Terry set to return to full training on either Tuesday or Wednesday after a hamstring problem.

David Beckham is, meanwhile, also set to train on Tuesday after the squad's arrival in Portugal after having an injection to remove a cyst in his back on Saturday afternoon.

Above all, however, England had shrugged off concerns over their form and fitness, which had lingered from their 1-1 draw against Japan.

Eriksson continued: "If we play good football, then it's not the most important thing whether we play a diamond or 4-4-2. It's about playing well."

Eriksson was especially pleased with Rooney's display against Iceland, although he believes that the teenaged striker can still improve his match-sharpness ahead of the tournament.

"I hope he will get a bit sharper as I am sure he can do even better than he did against Iceland. The crowd like him though, as he's a character, an extremely good footballer and not a normal talent," he declared.