What is it like to be back in Sweden?

"It's very nice to come back, I was here for three and a half years so it is very nice to be back. There is good weather and I hope today it is almost sold out so there should be a good atmosphere."

Do you have any special memories of your time here?

"I have some bad memories but not too many, but I also have some very good memories of course. Winning the Swedish Cup and winning the UEFA Cup in front of a full house, which at that time was 52,000. Playing Valencia, Kaiserslauten and Hamburg, they were beautiful times."

What made you decide to give Steven Gerrard the captaincy?

"His qualities on the pitch I don't need to tell you or anyone - he's marvellous. He's one of those who can do any job, as a midfielder, defender, attacker, scoring, shooting, tackling and attacking.

"But I think as a boy and young man he has grown up very much during the last years. Today, in the absence of David Beckham and Michael Owen he was the best choice we could have made in this moment.

"He will be a good captain."

He has played a variety of roles in midfield, can you tell us what role you have earmarked for him tomorrow?

"He is amazing, he can play in four different positions in the midfield and tomorrow he will start in the centre."

Are there any injury problems in the squad or is everybody fit for selection?

"All of them practised today, the only one we have to look at tomorrow morning is Shaun Wright-Phillips."

Some big name players are not in the squad for this game, how did that happen?

"It's no secret that we have a punishing programme in England. I heard that Arsenal shall play Saturday in the FA Cup against Manchester United, Tuesday against Chelsea, Friday against Liverpool and Sunday against Newcastle. If that is a football programme I don't understand it. You can't play four games in nine days, so I made a deal with them.

"With Arsenal I said I would rest a couple of players so I talked to Alex Ferguson and Claudio Ranieri and Bobby Robson and told them that they had the chance to do the same thing.

"If you see Chelsea players in there it's because I gave Ranieri a chance to choose which players to rest and he chose Lampard and Bridge. I phoned the two of them and told them they why they were not picked.

"I need to be fair because these teams are in Europe or the FA Cup but I 'm not doing it because I desperately want them to win but because if I rest Frank Lampard on Wednesday then I believe we will benefit from that in June and July."

How important is this game when you are missing so many of the big players?

"It's a pity we are missing so many big players, but you have to see the positive in it and the positive is that we are seeing some new players coming in that have never been picked by me before.

"For the long term it is valuable. It is important for life after Portugal.

"They may not ready now but they will be ready for life after Portugal. So I look forward to it and it is a great experience for them of course."

Do you leave yourself open to the possibility of defeat?

"If I win every competitive game and I lose every friendly I would still be happy. What do you want to do? You want to qualify, you want to do the big moments right and try to reach finals. That's what the job is about. That's why I am content about leaving some big names out."

What are your chances in Portugal?

"If we have fit players I think we have a very good chance. I won't say that we will go there and win it but of course we have a chance. Every time we play a competitive game and we have almost everyone available we show that we can do very well."