By Trevor Huggins
COIMBRA, Portugal, June 16 - England desperately
want revenge for their 2-1 defeat by France and Switzerland are
set to suffer at Euro 2004 on Thursday, says coach Sven-Goran
Eriksson.
England were stunned by two stoppage-time goals from France
captain Zinedine Zidane in Sunday's Group B opener and badly
need all three points against the Swiss.
"They are a bit angry, they want revenge and they've wanted
it since Monday morning," Eriksson told a news conference.
"They are looking forward to the game, they've been waiting
several days now. The players will react very well I'm sure."
Defeat would force England out of the tournament.
"Thinking about defeat before a game is something I have
never done and I will not start today," the coach said.
"Everything is possible in football but I think we will play
with the same intensity as we did on Sunday, so I'm confident
that we're going to win."
Eriksson echoed skipper David Beckham's belief there would
be no room for niceties in Coimbra and that England would need
to take the Swiss by the throat right from the start.
"We have to attack, to be very aggressive and to win the
ball early, even if the weather is a little bit against us," he
said.
"We have to be motivated and concentrated as we were against
France, for 93 minutes if we want to beat Switzerland. And it's
not going to be easy. Absolutely not.
"The only small problem might be that Sunday's match is a
little bit in the head, but I don't think so," he said. "I'm
quite sure about that. We have a strong team."
Eriksson had good news on the injury front on Wednesday with
attacking midfirelder Paul Scholes recovering from an ankle
injury, defender Gary Neville beating a minor calf problem and
central defender John Terry back from hamstring trouble.
Terry is expected to take back his place in central defence
at the expense of Ledley King, who made an impressive tournament
debut against France.