Swedes prepare tough debut for Trinidad

LEVERKUSEN, June 9: Sweden plan to ruin Trinidad&Tobago's World Cup debut tomorrow and give themselves a flying start ahead of seemingly tougher matches against Paraguay and England.

Swedish coach Lars Lagerback has drummed into his players that losing focus against the Group B outsiders could prove costly in the final analysis.

Defender Olof Mellberg believes the group will develop into a three-horse race, with Trinidad&Tobago the also-rans.

''It's wide open and we are determined to make it hard for England,'' said the centrehalf.

''In South America, they will think Paraguay have a really good chance of going through and if you ask people in Sweden, they will back us.'' Sweden won a tough group four years ago ahead of England, Argentina and Nigeria and hope to do it again.

They rattled in 30 goals in their 10 qualifying matches, their potent attack led by Henrik Larsson, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Freddie Ljungberg.

They will have to field an inexperienced goalkeeper after first choice Andreas Isaksson suffered concussion when he was felled by a shot during a training session on Wednesday. The choice is between John Alvbage and Rami Shaaban.

Trinidad&Tobago are the smallest country in the finals -- the two-island country has a population of just 1.1 million.

Their defence will be led by the astonishing Marvin Andrews.

The devout Christian ignored medical advice to get an operation for a cruciate ligament knee injury, instead relying on the power of prayer to heal the problem.

''For me, Marvin is as safe as the Bank of England,'' said coach Leo Beenhakker. ''He puts his heart and soul into games and can do it against the best strikers.

''We know our group is full of top attackers. Sweden have Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and they are an awesome pairing.'' Beenhakker believes his players already know the side that will line up against Sweden tomorrow.

Probable teams: Trinidad&Tobago (4-4-2): 1-Shaka Hislop; 6-Dennis Lawrence, 4-Marvin Andrews, 3-Avery John, 8-Cyd Gray; 7-Chris Birchall, 9-Aurtis Whitley, 11-Carlos Edwards, 15-Kenwyne Jones; 14-Stern John, 19-Dwight Yorke Coach: Leo Beenhakker Sweden (4-4-2): 12-John Alvbage; 3-Olof Mellberg, 4-Teddy Lucic, 5-Erik Edman, 14-Fredrik Stenman; 6-Tobias Linderoth, 9-Fredrik Ljungberg, 21-Christian Wilhelmsson, 19-Daniel Andersson; 10-Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 11-Henrik Larsson Coach: Lars Lagerback Referee: Shamsul Maidin (Singapore) Linesmen: Prachya Permpanich (Thailand), Eisa Ghuloum (UAE)

REUTERS