Owen to skipper England

Manchester United's Gary Neville had been expected to fill the void left by Beckham, but Owen will now assume the responsibility for the first time.

"Michael Owen will be the captain for the game," said Eriksson. "I'm looking forward to the game tomorrow. It's up to him to show his leadership qualities."

Owen has stated his delight after being handed the chance to lead out the team at Anfield, and become the second youngest captain ever behind Bobby Moore.

"It was a proud moment, as it came as a complete surprise," said Owen. "To be captain is a great honour.

"Everyone knows David is the captain, but we also have Rio (Ferdinand) and Sol (Campbell) out injured. I've had five minutes` captaincy experience when we played away in Valencia.

"I've played in one World Cup and a European Championship, so experience is important. I think that might have been one reason why I've been handed the role.

"I've never led a team out since I was 10 years old. There is a first time for everything."

Beckham backed Eriksson's choice to hand the skippers armband to Owen.

"Obviously I would have loved to be playing for England and captaining the team against Paraguay but I cannot honestly think of another player who deserves the honour as much as Michael Owen," said Beckham.

"Michael is a first-class player with great individual skill and experience considering he is only 22, but he is also a massive team player.

"I am sure he will feel the great pride and privilege of leading England in the same way I have and he will be literally leading the lads from the front."

Eriksson is also delighted to be able to give Kieron Dyer a run out for the first time since taking charge of the national team.

"It's the first time Dyer has played for me, so touch wood. I'm looking forward to seeing him play. It'll be very nice."

Eriksson also confirmed that Blackburn Rovers surprise inclusion Matt Jansen will get at least half a game at Anfield and could even make the World Cup.

"He has a chance of course for the World Cup. He will play for at least 45 minutes tomorrow."

"I think he's a player for the future as he's very talented. He's played a lot for the Under-21s. I like him as a player and I want to see him."

Eriksson went on to say that the team's performance is more important for him than the actual result against Paraguay.

"I'm not afraid of the result. I want to play good football. I don't want my players losing their spirit. We won't lose our spirit whatever the result."

Liverpool star Steven Gerrard has backed fellow Red Michael Owen to do a fantastic job as the new skipper of England.

"It's a good decision. Michael is very happy about it. He's had a hard time of late scoring goals, but he got a great goal against Sunderland," said Gerrard.

"It's always special to play at Anfield, but it's a little more special to play for your country.

"It'll be similar to when we played against Finland. It'll be a full a house and I'm sure the fans will get behind us.

"We need to give the fans something to look forward to, give ourselves a bit of confidence, and put our recent bad run behind us.

"There are rumours he is going to start with his strongest team as we have to start preparing for the first World Cup game."