Sven: Don't make me the hero

Eriksson was at pains to deflect all the praise for their achievements so far, insisting he is not a "hero" and paying tribute to his players instead.

He said: "I've always been very proud to have this job. It's a huge job and I'm very happy with the players we have and with the way they're playing.

"If we can go further on, we'll be very popular and that will be very good for English football. But I don't feel like a hero. I just have a very good football team."

Just under two years ago, England were knocked out of the Euro 2000 finals in the group stage and then lost at home to Germany.

Eriksson has since reversed their fortunes and the team have now raised World Cup expectations to fever pitch with their comfortable 3-0 second round win against Denmark.

While France and Argentina are out, Brazil could nevertheless still await them in the quarter-finals, if they can beat Belgium today, while Senegal, Japan or Turkey would be possible semi-final opponents.

Eriksson has respect for all those sides but believes they now hold England in high esteem.

"To beat Argentina and go through that group, I think they have respect for you.

"Is that growing? Yes, as long as you win then it is," he declared.

Eriksson says his team are, crucially, developing the sort of winning mentality which underpins club sides because they are benefiting from spending so long together.

He said: "They are showing that they don't want to lose football games and it's very good to see.

"Take the tackle by Ashley Cole on Kasper Bogelund in the second half when Denmark were pressing. If you have that mentality when you are 3-0 up, it's very good for the team and for their spirit."

Eriksson played down England's injury concerns from their win in Niigata, with only Owen Hargreaves still likely to miss their quarter-final in Shizuoka.

Emile Heskey, Paul Scholes, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler have a variety of knocks and pulls which are being assessed by the medical staff but none of them is said to be serious.

"They should all be okay by Friday," confirmed Eriksson.

He is keen not to sound over-confident or to write off Belgium's chances against Brazil in a match which he was planning to watch as it less than an hour's drive from the squad's base.

However, he realises just what a dream fixture it would be for England in recreating memories of 1970 when Gordon Banks and Bobby Moore took on Pele and probably the best ever national team.

He said: "If you consider how Brazil have played so far in the tournament, with some great attacking football, then they are the favourites in that match against Belgium.

"They are two different styles of football. One is the samba style, which is beautiful to see as they seem to be born with the ball close to their feet.

"The other is more European. We shall look at their match very carefully. It's a knockout game and you never know what will happen."

Meanwhile, Owen is confident he will "open the floodgates" after scoring his first World Cup goal of 2002 to send England into the quarter-finals.

The Liverpool striker had surprisingly failed to hit the target during the group stages of the competition.

But there were signs his predator's instinct was being fine-tuned just in time for a potential quarter-final with Brazil or Belgium as England cruised past Denmark in Niigata.

Owen's sharpness was there for all to see when he had only a split second to react to a flick-on from Nicky Butt and before anyone could blink the ball was in the back of Thomas Sorensen's net.

It was his first goal in five internationals but his ninth in just 15 internationals since Sven-Goran Eriksson took charge. More importantly it was a reassuring sight as England will need Owen to be at his best if they are to stand a chance of toppling Brazil should the four-times champions defeat Belgium.

Owen, so often the player to produce when it is needed most, said: "The goal has been longer coming than I expected.

"I was not getting worried about it. It was not as if I had missed a lot of chances. I've been unlucky once or twice and hit the post. But it was nice to find the net and hopefully that will open the floodgates.

"The games get bigger and bigger now and I want to score in these big games.

"It's important you have strikers with a lot of confidence in a tournament like this because they are going to get most of the chances."

Owen was pleased to see his Liverpool strike partner Emile Heskey also chalk up his first goal in 11 internationals.

But he insisted that it would be unfair to judge Heskey purely in terms of the number of goals he scores as the pair have different roles.

He said: "Emile does so much more for the team. He's not just there to score goals. He's there to do other things as well."

Owen only played the first 45 minutes because of a slight groin injury but there should be no problem about him being fit for the quarter-finals.

He said: "I felt a little thing go tight in my groin after only two minutes of the game. I've never had a groin problem before.

"I played the remainder of the first half and if it had been 0-0 or 1-0 I wouldn't have been asking to come off but when but you are 3-0 up and there is another game coming up, then it's foolish to stay on.

"The best thing was that we got the job virtually done by half-time and we didn't have to stretch ourselves and tire ourselves right out before the next game.

"Games are coming thick and fast and if it had been 0-0 or 1-0 then I think everyone would have been feeling the effects the next day but that was not the case."

Owen is relishing the chance to play in a World Cup quarter-final but warned that it was not cut and dried that England's opponents would be Brazil.

He said: "I don't think anyone in the squad has been to a quarter-final and it's exciting times but I think it's dangerous to say that we are going to be playing Brazil.

"You can be assured that Belgium will give them a very good game and, whoever we are playing, we are going to respect them like any other team."