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'It was harder to get up for this game'

The Beckham verdict

Sunday 11 November 2001 01:00 GMT
Comments

I suppose it was harder to get ourselves up for this game because of the last one [against Greece in the World Cup]. It was a carnival atmosphere out there, I was surprised by how good the fans were, there was no tension and people were just enjoying themselves. The manager said to us beforehand that he wanted to win the game so much, and we tried to.

David Beckham England captain

Sometimes today I think we played good football, other times we let Sweden play a little bit too much. I think Sinclair played well in the first half and Anderton came in and he did OK, but it's very difficult to show in 30 minutes that I'm the man. You can try new players like Phillips and I think all of them did well. It's not difficult to motivate the players because they're very professional and they want to win but it is a little bit of a different approach.

Sven Goran Eriksson, England coach

I haven't seen it on the television and maybe it's better I don't. They tell me it was not a penalty. But you can't expect the referee to always make the right decisions.

Eriksson

I couldn't see from my position, but our keeper said he tried to reach for the ball and that none of the Swedish players touched him.

Lars Lagerbeck, Sweden coach

I enjoyed it. No doubt I will be judged by my not scoring. It is my job to score but I only got 60 minutes. I felt I played fairly well. I am happy with myself.

Kevin Phillips, England forward

I was delighted – my first start has been a long time coming. I am happy to get my first cap. I was about to kick the ball and seemed to lose my footing. I'm not sure if I was caught [for the penalty]. I thought I had the beating of my full-back in the first half but I was disappointed that I gave away the free-kick for their goal.

Trevor Sinclair, England midfielder

Sweden's strength is that they are very disciplined and aggressive. They don't give you time to play or the space to play in. You can understand why they are in the World Cup. I know a lot of people on the other bench and the pitch and I think it was a good football match to watch.

Eriksson

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