Both Michael Owen, 18, of England, and Leider Preciado, 21, of Colombia, came on and scored in late cameo appearances as substitute strikers in their teams' last games.

Both are now seen as potential match-winners by their coaches - if they have the nerve to select them from the start to sharpen up their attacks in a potentially-explosive encounter.

But both Glenn Hoddle and Hernan Gomez fear that their youthful goalsnatchers may lack the experience to cope with what promises to be a furiously-competitive first World Cup Finals meeting between the two nations.If England win, or draw, they will automatically join Romania in the second round. If Colombia win, they go through and England are eliminated.

``It will be a match to the death,'' said Gomez. ``Neither videos nor tactics nor support will count. It's them or us. There's nothingeasy. It's a duel and either of the two can go through.

Our intention is to keep a zero because we are gradually going to go for control of the game. It's fundamental that Colombia should have control of the ball so they can complicate England.''

``People say the youngsters can play and I know they can, but they're not experienced. We have to let him (Preciado) watch and learn. In the match against Tunisia I dared to put him on - I could send him on sooner against England,'' Gomez said.

Preciado, who scored twice against Chile on his international debut in a warm-up game, is as highly-rated by the Latin Americans as is Owen, who has scored twice in seven appearances, including five as a substitute, by England.

He played for 37 minutes, after replacing Adolfo Valencia - one of six remaining veterans from the 1994 Finals - against Tunisia and for seven against Romania when he came on for Faustino Asprilla, since expelled from the squad.

But he has only started an international once before and, likeOwen, who has started two, may end up being more dangerous if launched into the fray from the bench to liven things up.

``He has been earmarked to be nursed into the World Cup,'' said Hoddle of Owen. ``And that's how it has panned out. We had a situation where the first two games were going to be the toughest ones. Starting Michael on Friday is an option which I always thought might arrive for the third game because Colombia's shape is different to the other two sides we have played.''

If Hoddle, as expected, picks Owen it will be to exploit his pace and movement against a counter-attacking team which prefers a slower rhythm with moves built around the midfield pairing of the orange-frizzed Carlos Valderrama, 36, and Freddy Rincon, 31.

Though old, in soccer years, Valderrama remains one of the world's greatest ball-players. But Colombia lack true firepower without the elusive and temperamental talents of Asprilla, their top scorer in the qualifiers, and they may rue his absence.

``This is it, the realthing, and we love a backs-to-the-wall situation,'' said England defender Tony Adams, reflecting the determined spirit of his team. ``For us, this is when we get down to serious business.''