Beckham: Dwight Yorke is the main threat.[/size]
TEAMtalk - David Beckham feels Dwight Yorke poses a 'big threat' to England's hopes of winning Group B as "he's one of the best forwards around".
Sven-Goran Eriksson will face Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday knowing a win will put them firmly in the Group B driving seat. England's 1-0 win over Paraguay was followed by Yorke and co earning a shock draw with Sweden last Saturday.
And England captain Beckham has warned his team-mates to be aware of the threat posed his former Manchester United team-mate.
He said: "Dwight has always been a threat to defenders in any game - he's one of the best forwards around.
"He's one of the great strikers and has been for many years.
"At United we won the European Cup, the league and the FA Cup - and he was a huge part of that team.
"It'll be nice to see him - but he's a player we have to be aware of.
"He's their star player - the one all their players probably look up to because of what he's done outside his country."
Beckham claims he and his team-mates appreciate Eriksson's decision to let them spend time with their families at their World Cup training camp.
The Real Madrid midfielder believes the break can be beneficial as England seek to book a place in the last 16 and said: "We're here to do a job and hopefully go all way - but it's always nice to see the families because we are away for five weeks.
"We are taking it seriously but a free day with the family is nice.
"We've had a day and a half off and it's given us a chance to get rid of blisters and knocks."
Of England's situation, Beckham added: "We always expected it to be a tight group and we always knew there were going to be tough games."
Asked how England would respond to criticism for their second half display in Saturday's 1-0 defeat of Paraguay, he said: "Work hard and get on with our training - that's the only way we can respond.
"If you listen to every bit of criticism as a player its going to affect you - and you can't let that happen."
Beckham expects Michael Owen, who struggled against Paraguay before he was substituted 10 minutes into the second half, to "come good".
"With Michael coming back, 55 minutes was good," said Beckham.
"He's got his fitness levels back up. Michael will come good, he always does in major tournaments."
The captain believes England's strength in the middle of the park will be key to their progress.
"We're very lucky with our midfield - it's one of the best in Europe if not the world."
Scotland backed to beat England.[/size]
Sportinglife.Com - Bookmakers have received a flurry of bets on Scotland scoring first against England in the World Cup finals this year. While Walter Smith's team failed to qualify for the tournament in Germany, hopes are high for St Johnstone striker Jason Scotland hitting the net in Nuremberg on Thursday.
The 27-year-old will be in the Trinidad and Tobago squad to face Sven-Goran Eriksson's side with many Scots backing the namesake of their nation to open the scoring.
Ladbrokes spokesman Nick Weinberg, said: "The majority of support for Scotland to score first has come, funnily enough, from Scotland.
"The 'Anyone-but-England' gamble is gaining momentum with everyday that passes with Sven's side left in the competition.
"Scottish punters are backing anyone but their old foes. And any link to Scotland, no matter how tenuous, has been leapt on as an omen."
FA secure extra tickets.
By: Chris Hatherall.[/size]
The FA can confirm that it has secured an extra 250 tickets from FIFA for Thursday's match against Trinidad and Tobago in Nuremberg.
These tickets will be sold only to members of englandfans, the official England supporters club.
It brings The FA's allocation for the match to over 4,500 tickets.
Englandfans members who do not have a ticket for the game can get ticketing details from the englandfans website.
It is unlikely that more tickets will become available for the match against Sweden. However, The FA will continue its requests for more tickets for the knock-out rounds if England progress through the tournament.
Becks looks forward.
By: Chris Hatherall.[/size]
David Beckham has vowed you will see an even better England when the team take on Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday. The Three Lions kicked off their World Cup campaign with a 1-0 victory over Paraguay in scorching heat in Frankfurt.
The conditions didn’t make it easy to play the kind of football that Beckham knows his team can produce. But he believes fans will see a steady improvement as the tournament goes on.
He said: “ We know we can play better. I just think that once the heats dies down it will help. We play the next two matches at a different time of the day, at 6pm and then 9pm, and that will make a big difference.
“You have to bed in at any tournament and it’s not often we’re in this position where we have won our first game. We have had a good start and we have to look at that and be happy."
Beckham will be delighted this morning as he studies the table in Group B with England sitting proudly at the top. And that makes yesterday's result against Paraguay look even better.
He said: “We set off to get three points. We knew it was going to be tough at times because Paraguay have got some quality in their team but it's what we set off to do - get three points in the first game.
“Every good team when things are not going well has the ability to keep clean sheets and to win games and that's what you have got to look at.
“The good thing for us is that so often those kind of games can end 1-1, but we defended well and we held on. We could have kept the ball a bit better but we’re happy. Now it’s on to the next game.”
England set to hold Rooney back.[/size]
Sportinglife.Com - Wayne Rooney's chances of making a comeback against Trinidad and Tobago appear to have receded. The independent medical experts who passed Rooney fit to return to full training last week will not fly out to Germany until Friday.
That means they will not check on the striker's fitness before Thursday's game in Nuremberg.
It is understood they do not think the 20-year-old is ready to play and Sven-Goran Eriksson is unlikely to risk him in a game England should win without him.
Professors Angus Wallace and Chris Moran, of the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, agreed last week that Rooney's foot scan showed his broken metatarsal had healed.
But they warned he would be prone to a secondary injury if he played before he was fully match fit.
This prompted Manchester United to make a statement claiming Rooney, their player, would not be able to play until after the group stages of the World Cup.
Eriksson refused to accept this agreement. Instead he promised to bring Wallace and Moran to Germany to give Rooney the once-over before he played.
Unless the Swede is about to go back on his word, that means Rooney's first chance of playing will be against Sweden in the final Group B game on June 20.
Bookmakers had stopped taking bets on Rooney returning against Trinidad and Tobago because Eriksson said he was "optimistic" he would feature.
Rooney has been training hard in a bid to prove his readiness but it looks like he will have to be patient.
This will ease anxiety at Old Trafford where Sir Alex Ferguson has been worried about the rehabilitation of his star striker.
Rooney has not played since breaking his foot on April 29 against Chelsea and Ferguson does not want to see him rushed back to boost England's World Cup bid.
United accept they have little control over the issue because FIFA rules back England in this situation.
But the Premiership club have let it be known they are watching closely amid reports they might launch legal action if their £30million striker comes back before the knock-out phase and suffers a further injury.
Reports of all-out war between the Football Association and United are wide of the mark, however, according to FA chief executive Brian Barwick.
He claims his relationship with United chief executive David Gill remains solid.
Barwick said: "Manchester United and the Football Association have a very decent and long-standing relationship.
"I think it's important to say I have never had a heated conversation with David Gill, ever.
"I find him one of life's genuine people, fair-minded and a very easy person to talk to and do business with.
"I'd like to think that he thinks the same of me, actually, and we did our bit to make sure there was a sensible dialogue alongside the issue."
