No place for us to hide in the group of death
December 3, 2001
Sven's warning on night his luck ran out
IT WAS the night that Sven Goran Eriksson's luck ran out.
Sunday Mirror
English dreams lay in tatters, giving rise to fears of another early exit as the full extent of a nightmare draw unfolded before a disbelieving nation and their rivals.
Relief gripped the other 28 teams in the tournament as they avoided the Group of Death occupied by Argentina, England, Nigeria and Sweden.
Two days earlier Eriksson had arrived in Korea in upbeat fashion. Ever the optimist, he believed that his adopted country was capable of ending 36 years of international underachievement.
Perhaps the 52-year-old Swede was tempting fate by showing his hand early, adamant that if England were to progress in the Far East in the summer they must hope to avoid one of three teams in the opening group phase - Argentina, France or Italy.
In the end, England couldn't have wished for a worse draw as the tournament favourites Argentina, his native country Sweden and Africa's strongest nation Nigeria turned his dream into a nightmare.
England's plans were left in disarray and as Eriksson fittingly put it: "There was no place to hide."
Not only were the country's meticulous pre-tournament plans thrown into chaos. Plans to stay at their favoured Korean base on the fantasy island of Jeju were revamped in the knowledge that they would spend the duration of the first phase in Japan.
On top of that, England are likely to have to overcome the challenge of both France and Brazil to reach the last eight - if they get past the group stage.
"I hope we have more luck in June than we did with the draw," said Eriksson. "It is the most difficult group to be in. We are probably facing the best team in South America, maybe the best team from Africa and a very good team from Europe.
"There is no place to hide if we want to advance to the next stage, we will have to be in good shape straight away if we want to stay in the tournament."
The assured confidence that has followed a tough qualification campaign gave way to uncertainty. "On paper no game is easy," Eriksson added. "In other groups you can see teams winning, drawing and perhaps losing games but we don't have that and that is a fact we have to live with.
"If we finish second in the group we will probably have to play the world champions, France. It was a very unlucky evening for us.
"I joked with the Irish manager Mick McCarthy afterwards. I asked him if he would like to change groups with me and of course he said 'no way'.
"No team would like to change places with us, no other team would want to go into this group.
"During the draw I said to Adam Crozier 'If we get Nigeria it can't get any worse'.
"It's difficult to see it being any worse than it is. Maybe it could have...no, it couldn't.
"It's not what we would have hoped for but at the same time I'm sure that the manager of Argentina, the manager of Sweden and the manager of Nigeria are saying the same things that I am, that this is a very difficult group, that you can't escape from it, there is nowhere to go."
It appeared that Eriksson was most apprehensive about Nigeria, an unpredictable side who have flattered to deceive yet proved in recent World Cups to be formidable adversaries.
"The only team I don't know much about is Nigeria but now I must do my homework. I know Argentina are a major threat, they qualified very easily so you can see why people talk about them as favourites.
"They have Batistuta, Ortega, Crespo, Veron and a lot of other good players. If they are missing just one player they have a lot of others who can come in. How many stars do they have? They have many, many.
"History suggests that games against Sweden are extremely difficult. It's 30 years since we have beaten them competitively but there will be no mixed emotions, they will only be for England, we will go the World Cup to beat Sweden."
Eriksson refused to be drawn over the defeat by Argentina in the 1998 World Cup in France, famously remembered for the sending-off of David Beckham.
"I know about 1998 and I'm sure people will write a lot about that until we meet them but I'm not really interested in the past.
"We have to be positive. Remember, as difficult as this is for us, it's difficult for them as well.
"I'm sure some of the players will have mixed emotions about the draw and they will realise they will have to perform to a high level to get through.
"I will not panic. I will prepare and I will retain my confidence no matter what."