We are here to play against the best, says Larsson

June 11, 2002

LONDON, June 10 (ICONS.COM) (DS) - Sweden international striker Henrik Larsson previews his side's group stage final clash with Argentina on Wednesday on icons.com personal page.

"If I'm being honest, I would have said Argentina would have won our first round group before the tournament, and the battle would be between us, England and Nigeria for second spot. Of course, anything can happen in football and after England's win on Friday, Argentina now know they are not even guaranteed qualification from the group.

But Argentina have long been one of the favourites for the World Cup, and with a lot of reason. If I was to choose the probable winner I would still say Argentina, simply because they are, with France, one of the best teams around at the moment. One defeat does not change that.

When you get to the World Cup finals you have to respect every team you come up against, because they are there on merit, and because they all want to do well. But the best sides always come to the top, and perform when they need to. I said a while ago that Argentina will be one of the teams to beat, and I stick by that. Argentina have a great tradition of teams and players, and you can be sure that the present team want to keep that going, and to be remembered along with the fantastic sides of the past. They have the players now to make their mark, and I'm sure some of their younger guys will be looking to set the world on fire, in the way that players like Kempes and Maradona did in the past.

Up front Argentina are very strong, particularly with Claudio Lopez, who is one of the quickest and most skilful strikers in the world. It is likely that he will play alongside his Lazio team mate Hernan Crespo, and that is a very dangerous strike force to deal with. They know each other really well from playing together all the time at the highest club level. If Lopez doesn't play, they have Batistuta to come in, so that's not too bad either.

But, right through the Argentine team there are strong players, and it really is difficult to highlight a weakness. They are adventurous going forward, but solid in defense at the same time. They have a midfield that can switch between attack and defense very easily, and their football is always good to watch. They are highly skilled, and brilliantly organised, and that is why they are favourites.

However, you have to believe you can go out there and get a result against teams like Argentina, or there isn't any point even packing your bags to go to the World Cup. Sweden performed badly during the last European Championships, and it's impossible not to have been disappointed then that we did not reach the level of performance we were capable of. Of course we don't want that to happen again, and we do have the players to do well.

Like most people I realised we were in the toughest first round group when the draw was made, and to have Argentina as your top seed isn't easy, but playing at this level means that you have to face the best teams and the greatest players in the world. Whether you face them in the first round, or the second round, it doesn't really matter. We are here to play against the best. And that is something we are all looking forward to."

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