Warriors may face two Rooneys in W/Cup

This prospect loomed large yesterday as England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who has a fair idea of who will be in his squad for next year’s World Cup, said he is hoping, however, for another Wayne Rooney to come along.

Eriksson said he hadn’t made any firm selection plans because he was waiting for players to impress him.

"If I had to pick the squad tomorrow, I would be pretty clear on who the 23 are," Eriksson told BBC Radio on Sunday. "But the World Cup is still six months ahead and some things can change— a young player can come through like Wayne Rooney did."

Trinidad and Tobago, playing in their first World Cup Finals, are drawn in Group "B" with top seeds England, Sweden, and Paraguay. They play England in their second group stage match on June 15 in Nuremberg.

Rooney, 20, came to prominence during last year’s European Championship and is now an integral part of the team.

Eriksson said England had a great chance to win the World Cup for the second time since 1966 because it had extra preparation time.

"We have been fighting very hard to have four weeks’ preparation instead of three which was what we had at the last World Cup and we’ve achieved that," Eriksson said. "That will be very important. We have one more week to rest and prepare and that’s very important."

Eriksson, a Swede, became England’s first foreign national football coach in 2001 and took the team to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup and 2004 European Championship. "It’s difficult for me to say that this group of players is the best chance England has got of winning a World Cup because I’ve only been here five years," Eriksson said. "But since I came to this country I’ve never had such a good squad and that’s for sure. I’m excited and looking forward very much to next summer.

"It was rather a good draw for us," Eriksson said. "I feel we’ll go through. After England I’d like Sweden to win the World Cup but when England play them I’m English not Swedish. It’s not hard because I want to win."

England’s Football Association said 25 countries wanted to arrange a pre-World Cup friendly with England. Eriksson said a decision would be made next week. "We’re trying to find similar sides to those we’ll meet in the World Cup," Eriksson said. "If we can do that, it would be the best way to prepare the team."