Speaking in an interview with the Sky Sports TV network, Eriksson revealed his past fears that England might not make it to the World Cup 2006 Finals.

Especially after England's defeat by Denmark with 4-1 in a friendly match played in Copenhagen, Eriksson feared for the worst. "We had too many players out of form and I stuck with them anyhow - right or wrong I don't know."

"We were worried as well that going on playing like this we would not qualify for the World Cup," he said.

Then came England's loss to Northern Ireland, a match which wrote history for both countries. It was one of the worst defeats and also one of the worst appearances for the England team. "We learned that if we don't stick together, if we don't show up as a unit, a team, we are not that good," England's manager added.

The Swedish manager will head the team into it's third major tournament, after the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan and the Euro 2004 tournament. In both tournaments Eriksson managed to get the team into the quarter finals and England lost against Brazil in the 2002 World Cup and against hosts Portugal in the Euro 2004.

England are the seeded team in Group B and will play against Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden, Eriksson's home country.

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