BLACKBURN defender Nisa Johansson today backed England to win their opening group F clash with Sweden in Saitama as Sven-Goran Eriksson's men prepare to make their World Cup bow in the Far East tomorrow.

Johansson, a former Sweden Under 21 international captain, freely admits he will be cheering on his home nation when the two sides go head-to-head in the Japanese city.

However, the versatile 22-year-old centre-back believes the Swedes need a big performance from one of their star players to stand any chance of getting their campaign off to a winning start against the English.

"It's hard to say how it's going to go because it's a close one to call," said Johansson, a £2.75 million signing from Nuremberg last season.

"We have Freddie Ljungberg who is on fire at the moment but England should beat us because they have the better team on paper.

"Sweden do have a solid side and we have some players who stand out like Patrick Andersson, Henrik Larsson and Freddie so we just have to hope that they perform on the day because the rest of the team is not very special.

"The majority are good, solid, players but you can't compare them to the best players in England."

Johansson, who was touted as a possible contender for the Sweden squad, believes England have the armoury necessary to make a major impact in the Far East.

Proven Premiership performers like Michael Owen, David Beckham and Paul Scholes have all caught his eye during his debut season in English top-flight football.

However, when it comes to the crunch, Johansson also believes the collective lack of European experience in Eriksson's squad could also work against them if they make it through to the knock-out stages.

"I don't really know why England haven't done better than they have in recent years," said Johansson.

"Maybe it's because you don't see many English players playing in Europe.

"There's only Owen Hargreaves who really plays on the continent at the top level and that could possibly have something to do with it.

"Okay, players can gain international experience by playing for the national team or playing in the Champions League but it's not really the same.

"In England people get used to playing against 4-4-2 whereas if they were to go abroad then they'd get the chance to play more regularly against different systems.

"Having said that, I still think England could do very well.

"If you look at all the quality they have in midfield in terms of Scholes, Beckham and Dyer then it looks a very, very good unit."

The outcome of tomorrow's clash could go a long way to deciding exactly who qualifies from group F.

Argentina are the clear favourites with the bookies but Johansson would love to see both Sweden and England make it through to the knockout stages.

For that to happen, however, the Blackburn defender believes Owen and Beckham need to be at their very best, although he has also tipped Liverpool's Emile Heskey for a major role.

"Michael Owen will, obviously, be crucial to England's chances and we'll also have to wait to see what happens with Beckham after all his injury problems," said Johansson.

"But Heskey could also be a key man because he plays with Owen at club level and that could turn out to be a good connection for Eriksson.

"At the end of the day, I would love it if both England and Sweden got through but we'll just have to wait and see if they can both do it."