Eriksson hints at staying at the helm

World Cup 2006 qualifying: Sven-Goran Eriksson yesterday hinted he could be in charge of England for the 2006 World Cup qualifying…

World Cup 2006 qualifying: Sven-Goran Eriksson yesterday hinted he could be in charge of England for the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign after his team were handed a tough start in their quest to make it to Germany.

Eriksson was the only team coach not to attend yesterday's meeting in Cardiff where the Group Six teams met to finalise their qualifying fixtures.

England will start their campaign in Austria and travel to Poland four days later. None of the teams in the group were willing to start with an away match against England while FA officials were keen to start at home. But, following tense negotiations, the FA relented and agreed to a curtain-raiser in Vienna. Their first home match is against Wales on October 9th and is likely to take place at Old Trafford.

Eriksson admitted that England face a difficult task and his comments suggest he will still be in charge when the qualifiers get underway.

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"For us, the fixtures are good," Eriksson said. "Starting with two away games against Austria and Poland will be difficult but that's the way I wish to start the group. In fact, I expressed the view to Tord Grip and David Davies on the telephone during the course of the meeting. My main concern was to avoid any fixture in June next year so I'm pleased with the outcome from that point of view in particular."

Eriksson has failed to publicly declare whether he will accept the offer of a new contract from the FA but his assistant Grip, who attended yesterday's meeting, said: "Both me and Sven will be in charge during the World Cup qualifying campaign but anything can happen in football.

"We are planning for Euro 2004 and the World Cup campaign. Sven is still enjoying his job, in fact he's enjoying himself more than when he started. He likes living in London, he likes the fans and he loves the passion for football in this country. He is still focused and committed to the England team and he will stay in charge."

England's match in Wales will take place at the Millennium Stadium. Eriksson's men will face Northern Ireland at home next March with the return match taking place at Windsor Park in September 2005.

The English campaign ends with a home match against Poland, evoking memories of 1973 when they disastrously failed to qualify for the World Cup after managing only a draw with the Poles.

Wales were the most satisfied with the outcome of yesterday's meeting as they managed to avoid the group's better teams in the opening two games when they will be without the suspended Ryan Giggs. They open up in Azerbaijan and then entertain Northern Ireland in their next match. The Welsh manager Mark Hughes expressed contentment with his fixtures, but it is the two matches against England that excite him the most.

"They will be terrific games," he said. "It was crucial that we had Giggs for both matches."

Guardian Service