World Cup: Line-up was no gamble: Eriksson

England's Rio Ferdinand, left, celebrates with captain David Beckham after England scored its single goal during the Group B match against Paraguay in the World Cup stadium in Frankfurt, Germany, on Saturday. PHOTO: AP

England 1, Paraguay 0

Sven-Goran Eriksson has once again been forced to defend his decision to start the World Cup with two strikers lacking match fitness and a 17-year-old novice after a lackluster 1-0 win over Paraguay.

England created few clear-cut scoring chances against the South Americans, with an own goal deciding the game, and Michael Owen's fitness was called into question after the Newcastle front man was substituted early in the second half.

But England's Swedish coach vehemently denied that his choice of Owen, Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott to partner his only fit and experienced forward in Peter Crouch was a reckless gamble.

"No, I don't regret the people I picked for the team," he insisted after hauling a clearly below par Owen off after just 53 minutes in England's opening Group B game.

"If you can find me two better players than Rooney and Michael Owen, then congratulations. I can't," Eriksson said.

Few would question that Rooney and Owen are the two best strikers in England -- when they are fit. The problem is both are still struggling to regain match fitness after injury problems.

An England supporter shows his St George underwear in Frankfurt's city center after the first-round Group B World Cup soccer match between England and Paraguay in the German city on Saturday. PHOTO: AFP

The stocky Owen, who was let go by Real Madrid after just one year, is still getting over breaking a bone in his foot on New Year's Eve which forced him to miss five months of the season.

While he is slowly improving his fitness levels, his first touch against Paraguay let him down and the edge that has seen him score 36 goals for England was not on show.

In the heat of a blazing summer afternoon in which even the fittest of England's players were feeling the pace, he was the first to fall.

Eriksson said he took Owen off because he "wanted to see fresh legs on the pitch".

"I think Michael did well today. He will do better and better," said the manager, who departs the job after the World Cup.

With Owen below par and Rooney not yet ready to play after breaking a metatarsal bone in his foot in April, Eriksson is left with the lanky Crouch and the rookie Walcott, who has yet to play a Premier League game.

Despite this, Eriksson remains adamant that sending a fully fit Jermain Defoe home so Rooney can sit on the bench, and including Walcott at the expense of Darren Bent, was the right thing to do.

He pointed to Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard as able to fill in the gaps and play up front if necessary.

When he pulled Owen off on Saturday, he replaced him with Tottenham's Michael Carrick and pushed Cole up alongside Crouch.

When Cole got a knock, he stuck Gerrard further forward, meaning he used three different players to support Crouch in the crucial opening game of their World Cup campaign.

Despite the questions that remain over England's strike force, they have three points in the bag and look good to progress into the knockout stages after fellow Group B side Trinidad and Tobago shocked Sweden with a hard fought 0-0 draw.

But Eriksson is also realistic enough to acknowledge that if England want to win the World Cup, they have to improve from their performance on Saturday.

"Our defense was great, but I know that to win we need to play better football," Eriksson said.