The Swedish tabloid Expressen has come to the defense of England's Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, whom the English media pilloried following losses to Denmark in August and Northern Ireland last month.
Under the headline, ''Don't touch our Svennis,'' Expressen wrote, ''They do not understand that he has turned a bunch of bone breakers on muddy soccer fields into a World Cup team. They cannot see that he has introduced tactical subtleties into the game and taught Beckham & Co. winning Swedish strategies.
''They really have gone too far now. We have had enough now. This means war now. The English should be bowing deeply and thanking Sven-Goran Eriksson. Instead they bully and mock him. But after [Wednesday's England win over Poland] we say: 'Put that in your pipe and smoke it!'''