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Thin red line England players unveil new shirt, meet new coach
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) -- New shirt, new coach, new optimism. England's soccer players unveiled a new playing shirt and then had their first training session under coach Sven-Goran Eriksson on Monday, two days before taking on Spain in an exhibition game at Villa Park. "There are many good players here and practice has confirmed that they are good players," the Swede said after the training session. "England has four teams almost in the quarterfinal of European competition and that's wonderful. I say congratulations." By the end of March, Eriksson hopes to say the same to his England players. Lying at the foot of its World Cup qualifying group with two games coming up against Finland and Albania in March, England badly needs a confidence boost on Wednesday. "We're not going to talk about Finland and Albania during the days that we are here," Eriksson said. "Now the important thing is that we try and get a good performance against Spain. "I hope that we will learn something from the game which we can take into the game with Finland. That will be the most important thing." The new shirt, the traditional white with a thin red line down the left hand side of the front, is the latest of many frequent changes to the design. But England has been changing coaches almost as often, with Eriksson taking over from Kevin Keegan, who succeeded Glenn Hoddle just two years ago. "I don't want to say it's a new era. It's a change of manager, that's all," Eriksson said. "The England national team is bigger than Eriksson. England is England and not my England. Maybe it's ours." The first foreign coach to take one of the most high-profile jobs in soccer, Eriksson had his opponents and critics before he left Lazio. Many England fans believe the team should be coached by an Englishman. Another criticism is that, although Eriksson has led several clubs to titles, including Lazio's Serie A triumph last season, he has never been in charge of a national team and can't rely on the transfer market to help him out. The Swede, who had met few of the England players until Monday, called up a large squad of 31 for Wednesday's game. He said it gave him the opportunity of watching as many players in action together at the same time. Arsenal's Ray Parlour, Real Madrid's Steve McManaman and Newcastle's Kieron Dyer all were pulled out of the squad because of injury and West Ham's Michael Carrick joined them on Monday. But Eriksson, who won't name his lineup until Wednesday, can call upon eight players from Manchester United -- a 6-1 winner over Arsenal on Sunday -- and five from Liverpool, which won the League Cup on the same day. Eriksson's supporters believe the Swede may have new ideas and that the players will benefit from having a complete outsider in charge. "It's exciting to have a new manager in charge," Aston Villa goalkeeper David James said. "English football has been too English which has caused us problems. Now we have someone with a continental attitude which could bring us back with the top European superpowers. It's a fresh start." David Beckham, who modeled the new shirt at a news conference on Monday, also welcomed having the new man in charge. "The whole country knows that we all need to start winning games and competitions. That's the most important thing," the Manchester United star said. "It's a new era, new manager, new players and new kit. We're all looking forward to it. "We all know they're massive games coming up next month in the World Cup qualifiers against Finland and Albania. "It's important that we play well and come together as a team in this friendly and prove to ourselves that we can play football and that we're good enough, whatever age we are." Beckham wants to be Eriksson's middle manBeckham is hoping for a double boost from Eriksson when the new England manager selects his side for Wednesday's friendly international with Spain at Villa Park. The Manchester United midfielder wants to remain as captain of his country, but in his preferred role in central midfield. "Being England captain in the last game against Italy is something I will never forget," said Beckham on Monday. Eriksson was tricked into saying that Beckham would probably continue as skipper during a hoax call by a disc jockey but has since refused to be drawn on the issue. Beckham said: "Obviously, I would like to continue in the job. But I have already said to myself that if it doesn't happen again, I can always look back and say that I have been captain of England. "The most important thing is to be in the squad, and hopefully in the team against Spain on Wednesday, and to play well, whether I'm captain or not." However, he said he would rather play in a central midfield position for England than wide on the right as he does for Manchester United. "I always enjoy any opportunity to play in the middle," he said. "I love playing and I enjoy being more involved in the game. If that means playing in the middle then great. When I am playing on the right teams always try to mark me tighter, sometimes even with two players. "That's something I have got to get used to. But it's possibly easier to handle if you are playing in the center of midfield where there's more room. "But it's entirely down to the new manager where he wants me to play." Beckham denied suffering a "dip in form" over the last month, putting any lapse down to the effects of influenza. "A lot has been said about the way I have been playing recently. I had the flu about a month ago and maybe I should have sat out two or three games. "But being the person I am I wanted to play through it, even though it was catching up with me. "But I felt a lot better and a lot fitter playing against Arsenal on Sunday. "We didn't expect to beat them 6-1. But the first half was probably the best we have played for a long time." Beckham also stressed the importance of getting off to a good start under new manager Eriksson. Scholes doubtfulPaul Scholes is almost certain to miss England's friendly international with Spain on Villa Park on Wednesday. The Manchester United midfielder missed Monday's first training session with new manager Sven Goran Eriksson because of a stomach upset. "We will wait and see what the Manchester United doctor says in the morning. But if he was not well enough to train today I doubt he will be okay to play on Wednesday," said Eriksson. Four other midfielders named in Eriksson's squad of 31 -- Steve McManaman, Kieron Dyer, Ray Parlour and Michael Carrick -- have already been ruled out through injury. "It's always a pity to lose players but when you look at those names they are all very, very good players," added Eriksson, who will name his captain on Tuesday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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