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Owen upbeat over WC hopes
10/14/2005
Michael Owen delivered a rousing World Cup message after helping England to round off their qualifying campaign in top spot with victory against Poland, reports BBC.
Owen, who was England captain in David Beckham's absence, was on target in the 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
And he told BBC Sport: "We're very confident ahead of Germany. I wouldn't swap our squad for anyone else's.
"We've a good team and a good squad, and although you always need luck, we feel we've got a really good chance."
Owen said England's win against the Poles confirmed his pre-match claim that Sven-Goran Eriksson's side would flourish against quality opposition.
He said: "I think this was a big improvement on our recent performances. The players know as well as anybody when we haven't done well.
"We played against a good Poland side that came to Old Trafford to have a go, and in some ways that makes it easier for us to play, which was the point I was trying to make.
"It's not us that tries to spoil games like some teams do when they come to England, and even when we go to certain countries they feel 0-0 is a good result against England.
"Poland tried to attack and sometimes it is easier when you are playing against a side that fancies its chances against you and vice-versa."
He added: "I thought it was a good game and what I would call a really good 'English' performance - there were tackles, it was played at pace, we created chances and did things at a really good high tempo.
"We needed a performance to give everyone a boost and I thought we did that. It was a very decent game.
"We are optimistic about the World Cup, but you need luck to run for you. You don't want people getting sent off or what happened in Portugal at Euro 2004, when Wayne Rooney got injured in the quarter-final."
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