Eriksson tells players they will reach final

Sven-Goran Eriksson has demonstrated the overwhelming belief he has in his players to achieve World Cup glory by telling them: “You will be staying in Germany until the last day of the tournament.”

And Eriksson is adamant England have a golden chance of winning the coveted trophy for the first time in 40 years as they complete preparations for Saturday’s quarter-final clash with Portugal in Gelsenkirchen.

The Swede appears not to have a negative thought in his head about England’s prospects because he feels the squad is better equipped than in the 2002 World Cup and in Euro 2004, when they were beaten in the last eight on both occasions.

England’s form to date could leave Eriksson open to charges of blind optimism after only showing glimpses of their undoubted quality in the opening 45 minutes against Sweden and the closing stages against Ecuador.

But it is difficult not to be won over by Eriksson exuding such positive vibes only a week before his five-and-a-half-year reign comes to and end.

Eriksson said: “Is this the best chance to emulate 1966? We have a good team and we have the quality to go all the way. You don’t know about red cards, own goals and injuries and how they can affect things, but we have the quality to win it.

“We have a better squad and have a better team. We are still young but there is a lot of experience in the team and the players are a lot more confident than two or four years ago.

“Maybe we were too cautious the last two quarter-finals but when we played those games we hadn’t the experience of the previous tournaments as we have today and we were not as good in the previous tournaments as today.

“I speak to the players and the message I told them today was that we shall stay in Germany until the last day of the World Cup. That is how confident I am.

“I am sure about that and am certain we will play a very good game against Portugal. I can feel that. Maybe people want us to play better but we are in the quarter-finals again and have a very good chance to go further on.”

Eriksson insisted he will be his normal cool and calm self on match day although he admits to being an admirer of many world leaders past and present.

He said: “I will be as I always am. I will not read Winston Churchill before the game and try and be like him although I have read some of his memoirs a long time ago.

“There are a lot of leaders whom you have to admire – Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, who is very good at speeches, Nelson Mandela – but I am not one of them. I am myself. I have to go on being like that, good or bad.”

The roof in the 58,000 capacity Veltins Arena will be closed and Eriksson will hope it is a lucky omen, with England having defeated Argentina 1-0 in Sapporo in 2002 the last time they played in similar conditions.

He said: “Having the roof closed on Saturday is better than not having it closed because it will be a little cooler and you avoid the glare of the sun. The players are happy with that. It is good.”

Eriksson would be happy for his team to turn on the style against Portugal but reiterated a positive result will be the ultimate target against a side lacking Deco and Costinha through suspension.

He said: “I never say to the players go out and play bad football. I say go out and attack and play well. But you ask me will I take bad football and winning?

“I can take that but if you play bad football for a long time, normally you don’t win football games.”

Frank Lampard has shaken off a slight knock on his ankle and trained with his team-mates, with Eriksson hoping he can end his tournament goal drought.

Gary Neville confirmed his fitness by coming through a third successive training session since recovering from a calf strain.