Sven-Goran Eriksson insists there will be no divided loyalties when England
face Sweden in the group stages of the World Cup.
England have been drawn alongside Eriksson's native country in Group B but the
Swede declared his determination to succeed outstrips his national loyalty.
England have not beaten Sweden for 37 years and were paired with them in the
group stages for the last World Cup.
"It was rather a good draw for us. Compared to the last World Cup it's a much
better draw," he told Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.
"I feel we'll go through. After England I'd like Sweden to win the World Cup
but when England play them I'm English not Swedish. It's not hard because I want
to win."
Eriksson believes England enter next summer's World Cup in a stronger position
than Korea and Japan four years ago because of their increased preparation
time.
"We have been fighting very hard to have four weeks preparation instead of
three which was what we had at the last World Cup and we've achieved that.
"That will be very important. We have one more week to rest and prepare and
that's very important."
Eriksson will this week finalise England's friendly opponents for the build-up
to the tournament and is looking for sides who match the styles of group
opponents Sweden, Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago.
"There are a lot of requests from teams who want to play England and that is
something we will decide this week," he said.
"We're trying to find similar sides to those we'll meet in the World Cup. If
we can do that it would be the best way to prepare the team."
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