Rooney is ready and waiting for Swedish sqaud

The single crime of which England could not be convicted on Thursday was taking the opposition lightly. Anyone who supposes that Sven-Goran Eriksson kept Peter Crouch on the field because he guessed that the Liverpool striker would eventually get the opening goal against Trinidad & Tobago is mistaken. The managerial logic had followed a darker path when it was decided that Michael Owen be substituted instead.

Rooney could start against Sweden on Tuesday. "It's tempting," conceded Eriksson, who has a desire to see England beat his countrymen for the first time in 38 years. He will not give Crouch, Gerrard nor Lampard the evening off, though they are all one caution short of a suspension, having picked up yellow cards.
The disciplinary records are expected to be wiped clean after the group phase for those who do not have a ban to serve, but although England are already qualified for the last 16 they cannot afford to coast through any match. With Rooney short of peak condition, the remaining members of the squad must learn to bear the weight of their own ambitions.