England Head Coach Eriksson met representatives of the press in Soho Square today and revealed he is looking forward to leading the Three Lions into a World Cup campaign.

Sven says unhealthy interest in his private life, although uncomfortable, will not force him out of work.

He said: "I always think that my life should private. I never understand the interest people have into my private life, even if I am the manager of England.

"But I was never tempted to leave. I will never throw in the towel because of mass media reaction. I could throw in the towel because of footballing reasons but not because of media invasion into my private life."

Sven is already focusing on England's friendly match against the Ukraine, which takes place in Newcastle on Wednesday.

"I want to go on working for the organisation and with the England team," he said.

"I want to qualify for the World Cup and I want to do better in the World Cup Finals than we did in the last one.

"All this hasn't affected my motivation. I could quit if we don't qualify for the World Cup but that's a football matter. For now I want to stay - I am a little bit stubborn!"

Sven handled tough questions from newspaper journalists at Soho Square in exactly the way you would expect - calmly and clearly.

"I don't feel more pressure at the moment because it is always there when you play football games, especially if you talking about England," he said.

"If other people think that the pressure is bigger because of the summer I can't do anything about that. I don't feel that.

"I have had journalists and photographers outside my house and even trying to get inside. Of course you can lock yourself in the building and sit in there crying and be angry, but I try not to. I try to do what I normally do, like play tennis and go out for a run and things like that. I try to let it all go.

"As I keep saying, private lives should be private lives and should stay private. What you have done or not done is private. Work is work. Private life is private life, whatever firm you work for.

"Sometimes I feel in this job that you should be a saint - or at least a monk - and you should not earn too much money and you should win every football match as well!"

The next test for Eriksson is to ensure the Three Lions qualify for the World Cup Finals in Germany in 2006. And he has plenty of words of encouragement for England fans as they recover from the frustration of a quarter-final exit against Portugal in Euro 2004.

Eriksson said: "We have a very good squad. Almost all the players who were picked for Portugal could be picked for Germany and hopefully we will have some new ones as well, like Jermain Defoe, coming through.

"There is also Ledley King who should be even better and hopefully Chris Kirkland, who I hope will stay fit.

"I know Paul Scholes has retired but I don't think there will be any more. To play for England is a big thing for every football player.

"You can't give a guarantee that you will win the World Cup and first we have to qualify- that's an absolute must for England. But then we want to do better and try to get to the final. We're working for that."