Larsson believes Sweden can beat England

Jun 14, 2012 5:48:00 PM

The 27-year-old says his side have what it takes to beat the Three Lions, while coach Erik Hamren believes Blagult are over their loss to Ukraine on Monday

Sweden midfielder Sebastian Larsson is expecting a tough game against England on Friday, but believes his side has what it takes to earn all three points.

Blagult come into the game off the back of a 2-1 defeat by co-hosts Ukraine, and the Sunderland midfielder recognises that his country must beat the Three Lions.

"We expect a tough game, they will be organised, especially since Roy [Hodgson] took over. We both need the points and if we play to our capabilities we can beat England," he told reporters.

Larsson went on to pay tribute to Hodgson's captain, Steven Gerrard, praising every facet of the Liverpool midfielder's game.

"Gerrard means a lot to them as their captain and leader. He's got it all, I've looked up to him for a long time, he knows the defensive and attacking parts of the game."

And Larsson is keen to make up for a poor showing against Ukraine by helping his side to a win on Friday evening.

"[My performance] Against Ukraine was not one of my better games. We didn't really get into the game first half. I'm eager to play well against England.

"Most people would say England are favourites. We don't worry about that, though, we just [want to] play at a high level again.

"It's amazing that we have great support and it's important for us, England will always be England and it will be tough to play against them."

Meanwhile, coach Erik Hamren praised his side for moving on from Monday's defeat.

"It's been a tough time since the loss versus Ukraine," he said at a press conference. "Our performance was not what we wished for, [but] these feelings disappeared quickly. We had a really good training session on Wednesday. The last two days have given us real energy."

He also admitted that his side will likely have to beat both England and France to qualify for the quarter-finals, but is confident that they can do so.

"It is a similar situation to the qualifiers, needing to beat Finland and Netherlands. Maybe we need to win both games, but we have good experience [in that regard]," he continued.

"You always take steps in football, sometimes forwards, sometimes backwards. It's just my philosophy, but I don't think about the past."

The game against England kicks off at 20:45CET on Friday.