Only World Cup flop will make me quit -Eriksson
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-07 05:44

England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson said on Sunday that only failure to reach the 2006 World Cup would force him to resign.

But the Swede said he was confident England would qualify for the finals in Germany and insisted he would not be panicked into wholesale changes after Saturday's 2-2 draw with Austria.

Eriksson was under scrutiny after England squandered a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes to go in Vienna, a setback that follows a disappointing quarter-final exit at Euro 2004.

"I have never, ever (thought about resigning). The only way I will leave this job is to not qualify for the World Cup. Otherwise, I'm staying till 2008," he said.

Grilled by British media over whether his job was at risk if England lost their next Group Six game in Poland on Wednesday, the Swede said: "Why should we lose in Poland?

"Things happen in football but I'm positive, not negative about Wednesday... It's impossible to think we will not win that game."

Looking ahead, he said: "I am quite sure we will qualify for the World Cup, even after yesterday's second half.

"It's a disappointing result to draw in Austria when all of us thought we had already won it but there are nine more games."

Eriksson also defended his players, despite media criticism for the likes of captain David Beckham, striker Michael Owen and, in particular, goalkeeper David James.

"The worse thing I could do is panic and change five players for Wednesday... I will not panic. I will stick to more or less the same formation, it will not be a revolution, that's for sure."

Trusting players

"I trust the players, I know they are the best players and that they will do the job for England... I'm sure they will respond in a very positive way on Wednesday."

Eriksson absolved James for a blunder which led to Austria's equaliser, but said he would have to address an alarming tendency for England to throw away leads in competitive matches.

"That's something we have to discuss and talk about. We will do that before the Poland game, that's for sure," he said.

England threw away leads against France and Portugal at Euro 2004.

"Recently it has happened too often, it happened against France for example, that was incredible how we could lose that game," he said.

England were 1-0 up against France one minute into injury time in their opening Euro 2004 match, but lost 2-1.

"We lost two points yesterday which, if you look one hour into the game, it was impossible that we should not win," Eriksson added.

"It has happened too often in games that we were winning and we didn't win... We have to avoid losing stupid goals."

Eriksson said he should have a fully fit squad to face Poland. Left wing back Wayne Bridge took a knock on his Achilles but should be available for Wednesday.

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