Swedes prepare tough debut for Trinidad

Sweden won a tough group four years ago ahead of England, Argentina and Nigeria and hope to do it again. They rattled in 30 goals in their 10 qualifying matches, their potent attack led by Henrik Larsson, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Freddie Ljungberg.

Trinidad & Tobago are the smallest country in the finals — the two-island country has a population of just 1.1 million. Their defence will be led by the astonishing Marvin Andrews. The devout Christian ignored medical advice to get an operation for a cruciate ligament knee injury, instead relying on the power of prayer to heal the problem. “For me, Marvin is as safe as the Bank of England,” said coach Leo Beenhakker.

TEAMS

Trinidad and Tobago

Goalkeepers: Shaka Hislop (1), Kelvin Jack (21) & Clayton Ince (22)

Defenders: Ian Cox (2), Avery John (3), Marvin Andrews (4), Brent Sancho (5), Dennis Lawrence (6), Cyd Gray (8) & Atiba Charles (17)

Midfielders: Christopher Birchall (7), Aurtis Whitley (9), Carlos Edwards (11), Densill Theobald (18) & Anthony Wolfe (23)

Forwards: Russell Latapy (10), Collin Samuel (12), Cornell Glen (13), Stern John (14), Kenwyne Jones (15), Evans Wise (16), Dwight Yorke (19) & Jason Scotland (20)

Sweden

Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson (1), John Alvbage (12) & Rami Shaaban (23)

Defenders: Mikael Nilsson (2), Olof Mellberg (3), Teddy Lucic (4), Erik Edman (5), Petter Hansson (13), Fredrik Stenman (14) &

Karl Svensson (15)

Midfielders: Tobias Linderoth (6), Niclas Alexandersson (7), Anders Svensson (8), Freddie Ljungberg (9), Kim Kallstrom (16), Daniel Andersson (19) & Christian Wilhelmsson (21)

Forwards: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (10), Henrik Larsson (11), Johan Elmander (17), Mattias Jonson (18), Marcus Allback (20) & Markus Rosenberg (22)

–Peter Rutherford