LONDON, May 24 - Sven-Goran Eriksson is hoping to end his colourful reign as England manager with a World Cup triumph that would silence the critics who have pursued him since his historic appointment in 2000.

In fact, he is so confident that he became the first England manager since Alf Ramsey in 1963 to predict that England will end the tournament as World Champions.

Ramsey was proved right in 1966. Whether Eriksson will be celebrating England's first success since then on July 9 in Berlin remains open to some considerable doubt.

At England's training camp in Portugal last week, he declared: "I think we will win it. All we need is a little bit of luck with injuries and referees. The expectation is a motivation, not a burden."

Whether a spate of injuries before the finals is going to hamper that dream remains to be seen but what is certain is that he will be tested like no other potential World Cup winning coach because of the health scares surrounding his team.

In a way it is just another problem for the Swede to deal with. Problems and controversies have been his companions since the Football Association named him as England's first foreign coach in the wake of a shambolic defeat by Germany under Kevin Keegan in their final game at Wembley.

The 'Little Englanders' among the British media have never forgiven Eriksson for being born in Torsby, rather than Torquay.

Others have criticised his substitutions in big games, notably in the 2002 World Cup quarter-final exit to Brazil, his faith in David Beckham as a captain and a midfielder and his lack of fire-and-brimstone motivational skills.

A dismal run of results last year, starting with an embarrassing 4-1 friendly defeat in Denmark and ending with a humiliating qualifying loss in Northern Ireland, have also had newspapers baying for Eriksson's blood.

The biggest problems facing the bespectacled 58-year-old, however, have been off the pitch, culminating in the tabloid newspaper sting operation in January that prompted the announcement of his departure after the World Cup.

FAKE SHEIKH

A reporter posing as an Arab businessman, notorious in the British media as the "fake sheikh", drew Eriksson into making regrettable comments about England players and English football.

The FA, who had stood by Eriksson during his much-publicised affairs with television celebrity Ulrika Jonsson in 2002 and former FA secretary Faria Alam in 2004, along with the 2003 revelations that he had been discussing a possible move to Chelsea, had finally had enough.

Though the matter was handled diplomatically by both sides, Eriksson later made it clear that leaving England had not been his decision.

In Germany, the scene of his greatest moment as England manager in their famous 5-1 victory in a 2002 World Cup qualifier, Eriksson has a chance to make all his critics eat their words.

Having reached the quarter-finals four years ago, and again in Portugal at Euro 2004, England could well make a run to the semi-finals, a creditable enough result in itself.

However, with the prodigious talent of 20-year-old striker Wayne Rooney, the goal sense of Michael Owen and the formidable midfield pairing of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, Eriksson knows that England could go further still.

The problem he faces is whether Rooney or even Owen will be fit for the finals.