Sweden v England

Rooney back as England look to end jinx

England have vowed to end their 38-year winless streak against Sweden here Tuesday -- even if the reward is a World Cup second round showdown with host nation Germany.

With Germany and Ecuador playing earlier in the day to determine the winners and runners-up in Group A, England will know exactly what they have to do against Sweden to avoid a titanic collision with the Germans.

But England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson insists however that his team, who have already qualified for the last 16 after wins over Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, are only thinking about beating Sweden and topping the group.

"If you win the group there are a lot of advantages," said Eriksson. "You have one more day off than your opponents all the way through to the final. So we want to win the group."

While a draw would be enough to give England top spot, Eriksson has never beaten Sweden in three attempts during his five-year reign, and would dearly like to see England record their first victory over his homeland since 1968 before he steps down.

"Thirty-eight years -- that's a long time," Eriksson said. "Before leaving this job I should like to beat Sweden."

With victory in mind, Eriksson will hand a first World Cup start to fit-again Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, who resumes his attacking partnership with Michael Owen.

Rooney's appearance as a second-half substitute, along with winger Aaron Lennon, gave England a huge lift against Trinidad last week and helped them secure a 2-0 victory.

"We are a different team with Rooney," Eriksson said. "He's a great linking player, he holds the ball up, which gives the team time to move out of defence. He's fantastic at everything when he's 100 percent."

Steven Gerrard, who is on a yellow card, is likely to be rested in order to ensure his availability for the beginning of the knockout rounds, meaning a start for Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves.

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher will continue to deputise for injured right back Gary Neville, who is struggling with a calf strain.

Sweden meanwhile are sweating on an injury to Juventus striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who suffered a groin strain during the 1-0 victory over Paraguay.

Midfielder Tobias Linderoth warned against underesstimating his team. "Those who perhaps don't understand much about football, and just look at which clubs players are with, will say England have a better team," Linderoth said. "But if you look at the team as a whole then we're just as good.

"We were better than them at the last World Cup and we're not going into this match with any fear or concern.

"England have done what's expected of them so far, but we have a lot of energy and belief in our own play," he added.

Teams

England

Paul Robinson, Jamie Carragher, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Ashley Cole, David Beckham (capt), Owen Hargreaves, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen: Coach: Sven-Goran Eriksson

Sweden

Andreas Isaksson, Olof Mellberg (capt), Teddy Lucic, Erik Edman, Tobias Linderoth, Niclas Alexandersson, Fredrik Ljungberg, Kim Kallstrom, Henrik Larsson, Mattias Jonson, Marcus Allback: Coach: Lars Lagerback

Referee

Massimo Busacca (SWI)