Sven was speaking at the squad's final media conference at Awaji Island, their base throughout the tournament, before leaving for the flight home. The squad arrive back in England late on Saturday night, and because of the late hour, there will be no special arrangements to allow fans to greet the players.

"Most of the players in this squad will still be around for the next tournament, but there are also players at home knocking on the door.

"From being together - for five weeks - you learn a lot and you make some small mistakes.

"You learn who are tournament players and who are not.

"All games you are not winning you are thinking maybe if you had made the line-up a bit different it would have been better.

"But to regret what you have done would be crazy. A fit Steven Gerrard would have helped a lot - he's one of the best midfield players in the world.''

 

The Coach gave his assessment of the performance of a number of players, each of whom have played a key part in England's run to the Quarter Finals.

"Nicky Butt was fantastic - coming back from injury he played well all the time and was very useful for us.

"Beckham can play better football than he did in this tournament but considering he has been away for seven weeks you cannot expect a player to be 100% fit.''

"Two days ago I was asked the question as to whether David Seaman will carry on after this World Cup and I have no idea about that," said Eriksson.

"I think the problem will solve itself. If he carries on for Arsenal and is the best keeper we have in the country, he will be picked whether he is 38 or 48."

The coach was keen to look at the broader agenda which could provide England teams of the future with a better chance of success at international level, mentioning in particular the number of teams in the Premiership and the potential of a Winter Break.

Looking back at the match against Brazil, Eriksson assessed the tactics which influenced the final outcome.

"I thought honestly after 44-45 minutes we had a big, big chance to win - everything looked how we expected to have it and we handled it very well until we made a small mistake before half-time and then went 2-1 down.

"I think we changed small details during the game, for the second half against Sweden and Brazil - and of course I take responsibility for that."

And a final assessment of England's progress, and the lessons for future tournaments?

"I think we showed in this tournament we have no need to be afraid against anyone."

That's a positive message for the millions of fans enthralled with England during the past few weeks to store away for the future.