Terry Butcher's view on England.
By: Terry Butcher (BBC).[/size]
England can look back on a good start to the World Cup with their win against Paraguay - and I believe they will follow that with victory against Trinidad and Tobago. But it will not be as easy as some people are predicting against a side with plenty to fight for and a lot to prove.
They will be led by Dwight Yorke, now one of my players at Sydney FC after I was appointed coach there, but more on him later.
Trinidad and Tobago's players will be fired up. Fifteen of their squad play in the UK, so they will certainly have the ambition and hunger to do well.
They started well by keeping a clean sheet and getting a point against Sweden with 10 men. They will be confident because that's a great result.
Coach Leo Beenhakker is a very wise man who has been around the course and will undoubtedly have a plan in place that he will feel can upset England.
They are a side of strong, quick players and they will know they can forge a reputation by getting a result against England.
It can have a big impact on their careers, and that provides an extra incentive.
England is always seen as a great challenge for any team, and in Yorke they have a player who gives them a touch of class. He was their man of the match against Sweden.
My ideal scenario is for Dwight to be outstanding and return to Sydney unscathed - while England win convincingly.
I know he is looking forward to the game and very much wants to win, but having said all that I fully expect England to claim all three points.
Yorke will sit in front of the back four in a position that gives him scope to pass the ball, and that may be a system England need to think about combating.
But I think England will win and they have got to win. They cannot afford any slip-ups, and if they do get the victory their World Cup route will be opening up nicely.
Hopefully England can produce better football as they go on, but it's not how you start tournaments, it is how you finish them.
Lots of eyes will be on Michael Owen after he was substituted in the first game, but I have no worries there.
He will feel disappointed, but that is natural when you are a striker who is looking for goals and match sharpness.
Michael, however, will have understood and knows he just has to accept it.
I'm sure he will be just as hungry for goals on Thursday, and he is playing in his fifth major championship, so he knows what it's all about.
It's not as big a thing as people are making out, and I'm certain he will play his part in what I believe will be another England win. But once again, a word of warning. This will not be as easy as some seem to think.
Soca Warriors set sights on England.
By: Paul Fletcher (BBC).[/size]
The handbook given to journalists at the World Cup states that Trinidad and Tobago have "generated no history".
By holding Sweden to a goalless draw on Saturday, the Soca Warriors have now created memories that will be forever cherished in a small corner of the West Indies. And Leo Beenhakker's team hope they can create an even bigger shock against England at the Franken-Stadion in Nuremberg on Thursday.
"I would say there is confidence there now," Soca Warriors captain and former Manchester United star Dwight Yorke told BBC Sport.
"We needed a big performance against Sweden and went out and showed a lot of courage.
"I did not know that my players had such fantastic character. That is a game that five years ago we would probably have lost."
The match against England will be particularly significant for Port Vale midfielder Chris Birchall, who was born in Stafford but is eligible to play for Trinidad & Tobago because his mother was born in Port of Spain.
"A lot of our team play in England, so you don't have to tell us how important it is," he told BBC Sport.
"I did not want to get carried away and just look forward to that game."
Yet no one in the Soca Warriors camp is under any illusions that, after holding Sweden despite playing 44 minutes of the second-half with 10 men, life will be easier against England.
Birchall said: "Before the tournament we thought we could get something against Sweden, but we are not saying we are going to go out and get something against England.
"They are a massive force and one of the favourites to win it (the World Cup). They are not really good starters but they come strong game after game."
Both Beenhakker and Yorke said Saturday's result was among their finest moments in football.
Beenhakker coached Holland at the 1990 World Cup and has also managed Saudi Arabia, Ajax, Feyenoord and Real Madrid.
The 63-year-old said: "I think it is a big success, especially when you play the second half with only 10 men.
"I cannot ask any more of my players. I am very proud of them."
Yorke, who was a member of the Manchester United team that won the Treble in 1999, admitted: "This is right among the very best.
"The historical moment with Man Utd was massive, but to captain your country on the world stage, and the point we got, is absolutely fantastic." If the Soca Warriors were to take something from their match with England, it would top even that.
