The World Cup’s group of death enters the killing zone on Wednesday with Argentina, England and Sweden engaged in a desperate three-way battle for two places in the knock-out phase of the competition.
Of the three, England look best placed. A draw in their final group match against already-eliminated Nigeria in Osaka will be enough to put them into the second round.
But Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men know they cannot afford to be complacent as the Super Eagles attempt to recover some pride after defeats at the hands of the Swedes and Argentinians.
While a point will be enough for England, they could still be eliminated if they lose and Sweden and Argentina draw, or if they lose and Argentina win.
For Argentina, whose status as tournament favourites has been punctured by their defeat to England, the clash with Sweden in Miyagi will be an enormous test of character.
As well as picking themselves up from their emotionally draining loss to England, Marcelo Bielsa’s side also must find a way to break down one of the best-organised defensive sides in world football.
Sweden have the advantage of knowing that a draw will be enough to see them through and Lars Lagerback, one half of their coaching double act, readily admits that all the pressure is on their opponents.
”I’m quite happy that we only need a draw,” he said. ”I can only guess but with Argentina being such a big footballing country I think they will be feeling the pressure a bit more than us,” he said.
England have no way of knowing how much resistance the Nigerians will put up given that they have only pride left to play for.
But Eriksson’s squad are bracing themselves for a backlash from a talented Nigerian squad that was unfortunate not to get something out of both its first two matches.
”We know that after the Argentina game we need another big performance and obviously if we can top the group and win another game that will breed even more confidence and hopefully give us the spirit to go on from there,” said Leeds United defender Danny Mills.
Heat could be a factor in both games with the matches kicking off at 3.30 pm in temperatures expected to reach 30 degrees Celsius.
But England captain David Beckham was confident his side could cope at least as well as their African opponents. ”We are not concerned about it but we are obviously aware of it,” he said. ”That is why we went to Dubai to acclimatise. We have been away for four weeks and acclimatised a lot. Hopefully we will be okay.
”It will be a little bit warmer than we have been used to but we have to overcome that.”
Whichever team tops the group will have an added bonus of having an extra day to recover before playing their second round match on June 16. The runner-up plays a day earlier. – Sapa-AFP