Steven Gerrard tipping England for revenge mission at World Cup

Steven Gerrard is confident England can beat Sweden in their World Cup quarter-final because they no longer have a maverick such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who he admits 'ruined' his 100th cap by scoring four times.

The former Three Lions captain was celebrating a century of appearances for his country when Ibrahimovic scored all of Sweden's goals in a 4-2 victory in Stockholm in 2012.

And Gerrard, now in charge of Rangers, said: 'My experience of playing against Sweden is that they're always strong physically and work their socks off for each other - they're a team.

'But now that Zlatan's not about you'd say they haven't got a star name, a maverick who can kill you and score four goals against you when it's your 100th cap, which is what he did to us, he ruined that night for me!

'But there are no egos and they'll be a tough team for us to crack.'

Gerrard will be watching the game on Saturday, and he added: 'I'm excited. I'm confident they can deliver again. The mentality and spirit they showed in the last game (against Colombia) was fantastic. They have got the country absolutely buzzing.

'Now the pressure is starting to snowball. It's important they remain calm and do exactly what they have been doing because they look exciting.

'They look the dark horses of the competition and have a hell of a chance - they won't get a better chance and we won't as a nation of going all the way to a final.

'A big part of it is handling the pressure but Gareth Southgate has been superb at taking that pressure away so far. I just hope they go all the way, it will be fantastic for everyone.'