Speaking exclusively to TheFA.com for England TV Sven spoke of the feeling of helplessness after going out against Brazil:

"You don't have another game to change the result - it is very disappointing."

"Then coming back to the office you sit and think, it's two years to the next tournament!!

"But now we're here and I'm very happy to be here. That's what we live for, what we look forward to. To be in the big tournaments, and try to do as well as possible of course."

So were you always ambitious - even as a child? 

"I hated to lose even playing cards with friends, playing whatever, I always hated to lose and still hate to lose

"However, I have learned in life that sometimes you lose and you have to accept it without blaming a lot of other people around you.

"It's very important to analyse why you've lost and give the fault to yourself and not to others."

We've been in Portugal for a while now - how do you keep players physically and mentally fresh?

"Physically we practise a lot, but the danger is you want to practise too much. You have games every third or fourth day, so we can't really practise that much.

"There is a lot of recreation here too - not for the day before the game, but normally they can go to the swimming pool.

"Sometimes they can see their families so in their spare time they can lead more or less a normal life.

"It is good for a father to see his children - it makes them feel much more normal."

"After seeing the same faces 24 hrs a day, week in and week out it is good to see other faces."

How do you personally relax?

"There is not that much time - there is a lot of preparation to be done.

"But I have some time out running a little bit and reading a book."

To watch the full interview with Sven, click on one of the links below

24 June 2004      
Sven-Göran Eriksson Exclusive

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