Eng vow to turn on the style as Trinidad eye upset
Agencies Posted online: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 at 1557 hours IST
Nuremburg, June 14: David Beckham has pledged England will turn on the style as they attempt to secure their passage to the World Cup second round with victory over Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday.
The Real Madrid star acknowledged England were well below their best during a drab opening win over Paraguay and are determined to lay down a more convincing marker against the Caribbean minnows.
"The fans are aware of how we can play and the potential we have in our team," the England captain said.
"We do want to perform, we do want to excite, and we want to prove to people that we can play at this level and we can perform like the likes of Brazil, Argentina, Holland or Italy. There's no doubt in mind that we can do it," he said.
A win over the 'Soca Warriors' would be enough to see England into the last 16 and leave them favourites to qualify as winners of Group B.
England's players are anxious to put the disappointment of the Paraguay match behind them, when they wilted in the heat and looked anything but world champions-in-waiting.
With cooler temperatures expected in Nuremberg for a match that will kick off at 6PM local time (2130 IST), Beckham and his team-mates are aware that anything other than a victory over Trinidad will be viewed as a disaster.
But even though Beckham admitted it would be a ‘huge disappointment’ if England failed to register a victory in a match they expect to win, he warned there would be no danger of complacency.
"We're not underestimating them as a team but we have got a stronger team than them and we should do well and hopefully beat them. But this is football and the world cup and we've seen already that teams that aren’t as big as other teams can still play well and do well," he said.
Trinidad and Tobago pulled off the first shock of the tournament in their opening match, holding Sweden to a 0-0 draw despite being reduced to 10 men.
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson had been reported to be considering introducing Wayne Rooney from the substitutes bench against Trinidad but it is now unlikely the Manchester united player will feature.
Rooney has returned to full contact training and is shooting at full force with his right foot, which has recovered from a fractured metatarsal bone.
Figures in the England camp are worried however that in his determination to prove his match fitness and spearhead the World Cup challenge, Rooney could injure himself again.
Either way, Eriksson is expected to continue with the 4-4-2 line-up that started against Paraguay, meaning that Michael Owen will get another chance to play himself into form alongside Peter Crouch.
Owen was replaced after 55 minutes in England's opener and looked desperately short of his usual sharpness as he returns from injury.
Beckham is adamant that the goals will come for the Newcastle striker.
"Michael will come good, he always does in the big competitions," Beckham said.
Trinidad, meanwhile, will go into the match looking to write another chapter in what is rapidly emerging as the fairytale story of the finals.
Coventry striker stern John said T&T, the smallest nation ever to participate in the world cup, had already proved they were worthy of their place in the finals.
"We know the England game will be very tough. You are only as good as your last game but we ground out a result against Sweden and hopefully we can build on it. People who have been watching all over the world will be talking about this and Trinidad and Tobago players for years to come," John said.
Trinidad's Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker-who must be the only coach in the world cup who bicycles to training-has been in relaxed mood this week, allowing fans into practice sessions for team autographs.
The 63-year-old former Holland and Real Madrid coach says Trinidad showed against Sweden that his players would not be intimidated by facing England's superstar line-up.
"The Swedes played with strikers from Juventus, Arsenal and Barcelona. We had lads from Jabloteh, Gillingham and Wrexham," he said.
"We're not talking mathematics here. Normally two and two make four-but in football they often make three or five," said Beenhakker.
