Sven-Goran Eriksson has appealed for 'Lady Luck' to side with England at the World Cup after admitting he is longing for a Trafalgar Square celebration party.

The England boss is still suspicious about Ronaldinho's winner for Brazil in the 2002 World Cup, which he describes as "a strange goal", and continues to lament the penalty shoot-out defeat to Portugal at Euro 2004.

With his team seeded second for the summer's finals, Eriksson now considers his side ready to take a giant leap forward and return from Germany with the trophy.

Eriksson admits England's players were envious after their rugby counterparts returned home in triumph from the 2003 World Cup, and are eager for their own day of fanfare in London. The Ashes heroes were also feted by tens of thousands of fans last summer.

"England are at the same level as teams like Argentina, Brazil, Holland, Italy, Germany and France," said Eriksson.

"Then you also need a little bit of luck; no injuries and penalty shoot-outs are all-important. We have a very good team."

The side has been tweaked since Euro 2004, but by and large a familiar squad will travel to the World Cup. However, those players Eriksson saw fall short in Portugal have matured, with Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard second and third in the recent European Footballer of the Year poll.

Eriksson will also be looking forward to unleashing Wayne Rooney on his first World Cup, confident England can improve on their performances in the two tournaments he has overseen.

"In both cases, the difference between England and Brazil, then Portugal, was very little, maybe nothing," Eriksson argued.

"But we are better now - much better. I would say England now have a team with good players who have the right experience, and that's why I think we have a chance to win the 2006 World Cup.

"The fans have dreamt about it for nearly 40 years and a lot of people now think we might have a chance to win something.

"It's extremely difficult to win a World Cup. That's why England haven't been doing it.

"England have got to one final, which they won at home, and one semi-final, so it's very difficult. But all our players saw what happened when England won the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

"The team went to Trafalgar Square in London and hundreds of thousands of people came to cheer them. This country will go mad - beautifully mad - if we win the 2006 World Cup."

England will, of course, not be relying on luck, and Eriksson has challenged his senior players to take a more bold approach on the pitch.

"Organisation is vital, but more important than 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 are the players, because they are doing the job out there," Eriksson said on the League Managers Association's website, www.leaguemanagers.co.uk.

"If you have players like Beckham, Zidane or Ronaldinho, they must have some freedom to create and invent.

"And you need players who can think for themselves rather than always looking to the coach. It's important players take responsibility for decision-making on the pitch."