Eriksson: I'll be sacked if England fail to reach last four

Sven Goran Eriksson, the England manager, last night said that he would leave the coveted position should England win the World Cup this summer - and that he deserves to be sacked if the national side fail to reach at least the semi-finals.

Eriksson, speaking to an audience of about 250 BBC staff members at White City in west london, said that if England do not perform to expectations in Germany, he will pay the price by losing his £5m-a-year job.

Eriksson said: "If we win the World Cup, I will say goodbye and thank you. I think people will understand me doing that. I have always said that I wanted to be judged on football results.

"If we fail in the World Cup, I have to pay the price, that's fair. If we don't get to the semi-finals, it's fair that I don't stay in the job."

Eriksson's England have reached the quarter-finals in their last two major tournaments - they were knocked out in the last eight by Brazil at the 2002 World Cup and by host nation Portugal at Euro 2004.

Speaking about the Sunday newspaper sting operation during which Eriksson was lured to a meeting with a "fake sheik", Eriksson added: "It was a kick under the belt. I was disappointed that it wasn't reported that I said Rio Ferdinand was the best defender in the world and Wayne Rooney was the best footballer in the world."