Eriksson to start Rooney against Sweden

Baden Baden: Wayne Rooney will start England's final World Cup Group B game against Sweden on Tuesday, said coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

The 20-year-old striker, sidelined for nearly seven weeks after breaking his foot, played the last half-hour of Thursday's 2-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago and has looked sharp in training.

"The medical people say he can play more than 45 minutes so if that is the case then it is better he starts than he comes on," Eriksson said on Sunday.

"I'm very happy and he's very happy, and it's very good for England."

Eriksson was pleased with Rooney's display against the Soca Warriors in Nuremberg, the youngster delivering several probing passes and clearly hungry to make an impact.

"We saw when he came on that maybe he's not 100 per cent but he kept the ball up there and did some clever movements and passes," said the Swede.

England have badly missed Rooney's ability to pick up the ball in the final third of the pitch and use his passing or trademark surging runs to get forward and launch attacks.

Against Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago, England frequently resorted to long balls for towering striker Peter Crouch to knock down or for Michael Owen to chase.

"He (Rooney) is very important of course," Eriksson said.

"He is a fantastic player, he is that type of link player between strikers and midfield which we really need."

Rooney's return means Crouch will almost certainly be on the bench, his usual role for England when the Manchester United forward is fit.

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Owen, who has struggled in the absence of Rooney's playmaking support, should partner him up front.

The 26-year-old Owen has yet to play an hour in either group win while Rooney is not expected to last a full 90 minutes in only his second game since breaking a metatarsal on April 29.

Defenders John Terry and Jamie Carragher do not envy their Swedish counterparts after another training session with Rooney on Sunday at their Buhlertal base.

"Marking him is a nightmare. He's looking very sharp and very ready to go," said Terry, who thought Rooney would want more than 60 minutes against Sweden.

"I think he'd tell you he had 160 minutes in him."

Carragher said: "It's great to have Wayne back with us. He hasn't trained for a while but you wouldn't think that from training, he hit the bar from outside the box with a volley from a corner.

"It was something I'll never be able to do."

England have already qualified for the second round where they will meet hosts Germany or Ecuador.

Drawing with Sweden, a side they have not beaten for 38 years, will ensure England top the group.