English press curse the 'luck' of the draw

December 2, 2001

LONDON, Dec 2 (AFP) -- The British press were cursing England's luck on Sunday after Sven Goran Eriksson's men were drawn in the 'Group of Death' at next summer's World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

Any hopes England may have had of a comfortable passage to the quarter-finals soon disappeared at the glittering ceremony in Pusan, Korea on Saturday, as the balls revealed Group F to include England, favourites Argentina, Eriksson's home country Sweden and unpredictable Africans Nigeria.

And if England do manage to progress from the group, their likely opponents in the first two knockout stages will be World Cup holders France followed by Brazil. Eriksson admitted that "it couldn't have been worse" and the media here had to agree with the 53-year-old Swede.

"Bottom draw," headlined The Sunday Times.

"Batistuta, Larsson and Kanu - that's England's World Cup nightmare."

The Independent on Sunday said that Lady Luck had finally turned her back on Eriksson, describing the group as "far from favourable".

"Cry for us Argentina," the paper said, bemoaning another confrontation with England's conquerors in the 1986 and 1998 finals.

"It is not inconceivable that England could be home in time for Wimbledon and the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations at Ascot."

"Nightmare scenario," headlined The Sunday Telegraph.

"If England are going to win the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, they are going to have to do it the hard way."

However, despite all the doom and gloom, England captain David Beckham said he was looking forward to meeting Argentina again as it gives him the chance to "lay the ghost of '98".

The Manchester United midfielder suffered the worst moment of his international career when he was sent off for lashing out at Diego Simeone when the teams last met in the last 16 in France.

England went on to lose the match on penalties and crash out of the World Cup with Beckham cast as the villain for his petulant kick at Simeone.

"As a footballer you always want to test yourself against the best and there is no question that this is a highly competitive group," he said.

"They (Argentina, Sweden and Nigeria) are three very different teams with very different styles.

"Personally I can't wait for June 7 (to play Argentina) - it's a great chance to lay the ghost of '98."