Eriksson's next goal is success at Euro 2004

By Mark Bradley, PA Sport Chief Soccer Writer, Shizuoka

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Sven-Goran Eriksson confirmed his determination to lead England's Euro 2004 qualification bid as he insisted that the team could leave the World Cup with their "heads held high".

Eriksson made it clear there was no chance of him walking away from his job this summer to return to club football, as some reports have indicated he may be tempted to do.

Asked if he would be staying on with England, he answered simply: "I have never had any other thoughts."

Eriksson, who has the full backing of his Football Association employers, sees much room for optimism for the future despite his team's 2-1 quarter-final defeat by Brazil in Shizuoka.

While older players such as David Seaman, Martin Keown and Teddy Sheringham may consider their international futures, the large majority of the squad will still be around in four, let alone two, years' time.

"Hopefully the squad, myself and all the staff have learned a lot at this World Cup," added Eriksson.

"Maybe 95% of the squad will still be there in two years or four years, so I hope we will do even better."

Having finished runners-up in a group from which Argentina and Nigeria were eliminated, having comfortably overcome Denmark and then having led Brazil for 45 minutes, Eriksson is proud of his young side's displays..

"I am very proud of my players. I always have been," he said.

The highlight of the 2002 World Cup will inevitably be the victory against Argentina in Sapporo, courtesy not only of David Beckham's penalty but also a tremendous team performance.

"I think we can leave the tournament with our heads held high. We did very well in many games and we came through the toughest group, beating Argentina," added Eriksson.

"We then beat Denmark in a convincing way and we have had at least 45 minutes against Brazil when we seemed almost like a winner. In the end, we were not good enough but we will be.

"If you take the games we played, in the second half against Sweden and for 35 minutes against Brazil, we were maybe not clever enough. But in all the other games, we were okay.

"I would like to thank our supporters, both those from England and those from Japan, as well as those who were sitting in front of the television at home.

"We had a lot of players coming back from injury but it's not only England who had that. It's a bad excuse to say that."

One of those players was Beckham, who never quite managed to reproduce his best pre-injury form after so long out of action with a fractured foot.

He shares Eriksson's optimistic outlook, with the likes of Steven Gerrard and Gary Neville to come back, along with impending promotions for youngsters such as Alan Smith, Michael Carrick, David Dunn and Jermain Defoe.

"We are all proud of ourselves and, as a captain, I am proud of this team because it has come a long way in such a short space of time," declared Beckham.

"One of the plus points is that we have reached the quarter-final of a World Cup in which some people were saying that we wouldn't even get through the group.

"But we did get through it and went on from there. Of course, there is disappointment in every one of us now, but we are a young team and we will come back from this."