England captain David Beckham said his side were able to cope with the pressure of high expectations and could make a big impact at the World Cup finals.
Beckham, who announced today he would be able to last the whole 90 minutes against Sweden in England's opening match, is raring to go after proving his fitness to Sven-Goran Eriksson following seven weeks intensive treatment on a broken foot bone.
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"There is an enormous amount of pressure at the World Cup finals, there's always that level of expectation," he said at a packed press conference. "But we've set those standards and now it's up to us to carry that through into big competitions".
Beckham said England were not overawed by being drawn in the 'Group of Death' against Argentina, Nigeria and Sweden and that his side could progress to the second phase.
"This is serious stuff and we're not here to have a laugh," he said. "We've got to believe we can win games. There's no point in going into any game thinking we can get a draw and that will be good enough.
"If we went in worrying about the other team, we're going to have big problems," he said. "We believe we can beat Sweden and go on from there," Beckham said.
AFP