Eriksson finds peace in his homeland

"It was the same with the fuss over Ulrika. The average Swede thought the reaction to that in England was ridiculous. Surely, all that matters is what Sven does as a manager.

"He's one of the world's top coaches. He's won the Championship in Sweden, Portugal and Italy, he's now coach to a great footballing nation and he'll win more in the future."

Danielsson recalled a warm October evening in 2000 when he joined Eriksson and Tord Grip for dinner in an outdoor restaurant in Rome.

"We were eating together when his mobile phone rang. He took the call and Tord and I carried on talking. When Sven had finished on the phone he said to Tord: 'That was the FA in London. What d'you think about going to England to work?'

"Later in the evening I said to Sven: 'How can you even think about leaving the food and the women in Rome?' He laughed. In the end I think he felt the challenge of leading England was too much to resist."

Danielsson, who'll be in a capacity 40,000 crowd here tonight hoping to see the Swedes maintain their remarkable record against England, now coaches a club called Djoliba in Mali.

"It's not quite the same as working in Europe, but Mali have just beaten the defending champions Cameroon to qualify for the Olympic Games for the first time," he said proudly.

Eriksson wanted to know all about his pals experiences and it was clear to see that he admired the dedication of a fellowcoach working in one of Africa's footballing backwaters.

A couple of days here among his countrymen is sure to restore some of Eriksson's faith and good humour, and hopefully restore normal service following the Chelsea controversy. "I hope that's all history now," he said. "Surely, it's time to move on."

He knows, though, that he needs a good European Championship to regain public affection. Sadly, tonight's match is unlikely to tell him anything he didn't already know about the players that matter in his squad.

Eriksson wanted to use this match - marking the 100th anniversary of the

Swedish FA - as a final dress rehearsal before naming his Euro squad on May 17, but the absence of key men like David Beckham, Michael Owen, Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Wayne Bridge and Frank Lampard means that he will field a team bearing little resemblance to that facing France in the opening Euro 2004 fixture.

Nonetheless, a win would not go amiss in the current circumstances. A 3-2 defeat against Denmark and a 1-1 draw in Portugal have done little to boost pre-tournament morale and the

Swedes of course delight in telling you that they haven't lost to England since 1968.

The last 10 meetings have produced three Swedish victories and seven draws.

"Sweden is proud of the record against England," said Eriksson. "They are always strong, organised and disciplined.

"They consider themselves like the little brother to England. They grow up watching English football and they dream of winning at Wembley. That's the way it has always been.

"Our preparation for this match has been serious business and when I'm sitting on the bench I will want to win. But if I could win every competitive fixture, I'd happily live with losing every friendly game."

After the week he's had, Eriksson will not want to lose here tonight.

What he will want to assess, with Rio Ferdinand suspended and Sol Campbell troubled by niggling injuries, is how John Terry and Jonathan Woodgate combine as a centre-back partnership.

That might just be the most important lesson to emerge from tonight's match.