The plane carrying Sweden's footballers here was forced to abort its landing and take another loop around the airfield in the mother of all thunderstorms.

The reaction of Sweden's players: "It wasn't a big deal."

They are hoping to take the same composure into their World Cup match against England on Tuesday when they must get at least a point to ensure progressing to the knockout phase.

To do that they must stop Wayne Rooney, who is set to start his first game since suffering a metatarsal injury seven weeks ago.

Sweden captain Olof Mellberg knows all about the problems Rooney can cause, having played against him several times in the Premiership for Aston Villa.

Said Mellberg: "He is a great player. If he has a good game it is difficult to stop him. But we haven't talked about that too much. We have looked at England as a team rather than individuals.

"Rooney is an important part of England's team. We've got to get tight and close to them so they don't get too much time on the wings close to goal.

"They play long balls if Peter Crouch is on the pitch. But if Owen and Rooney play they will be more of a threat on the ground. They are all really good players. I've played with Crouch. They are a threat in different ways.

"But if we defend well as a team we have a good chance."

They are saying all the right things this Swedish team. How much they believe they can extend their unbeaten run against England to 12 matches, spanning 38 years, however, is another matter.

There has been discord within the squad and with the Swedish media ever since they arrived in Germany and coach Lars Lagerback has been angered by the way his starting team have appeared in the press 24 hours before matches.

It is why he was coy on the fitness of Juventus striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has been struggling with a groin injury and was not expected to recover.

Said Lagerback: "Except for a question mark on Zlatan everybody else is fit." When asked to rule him in or out he added: "You will have to wait and see until tomorrow."

The fact is Sweden are desperate for Ibrahimovic to play. His replacement Marcus Allback carries nowhere near the same threat, especially as Sweden's problem at this World Cup has been scoring goals.

Lagerback said: "The players have done a marvellous job. They have created a lot of scoring chances. We are not satisfied with not scoring from many of them but they have played very well. There is a lot of confidence."

Their only goal so far came from Freddie Ljungberg in the 89th minute against Paraguay.

The Arsenal star remains their most potent weapon even if he has also ratcheted up the tension in the squad with his much-publicised dressing room dust-up with Mellberg.

Mellberg, unsurprisingly, was eager to play down such talk.

He said: "We do get on, there's not a problem there. You have discussions after every game. They are positive if you win and not so positive if you lose. I heard there was a lot of fuss in the media but there was no fuss between ourselves."

As the match progresses Sweden plan to keep in close contact with the other match in Group B, where a Trinidad and Tobago win over Paraguay could send Sweden home if they lose to England and it comes down to goal difference.

A win, however, would see Sweden top Group B and earn an extra 24 hours of rest as they would then play either Germany or Ecuador on Sunday instead of Saturday.

Lagerback insists his nation's impressive record against England is because the Swedish players know English football inside out.

Said Lagerback: "England play very solid. You do not get too many chances against them.

"I would describe them as 'They really know what the business is all about.' It's about handling and winning matches.

"But we've always had good matches against top sides and I'm positive about the match."