Eriksson knows that the true mettle of his young squad will be demonstrated and he admitted: "This game will show who is big and who is not so big."

He has opted to sacrifice the pace of Darius Vassell up front for the steel which the recalled Nicky Butt will provide alongside Owen Hargreaves in midfield, with Emile Heskey reverting to his preferred striking role.

Eriksson said: "Should the players show the same spirit as in Munich? Yes, that is what I will be telling them. We must have spirit stretching to the stars if we want to get a result.

"We got a big result by beating Germany and we have to look to try and produce another big result on Friday.

"If we can play football as I know we can play, then we can disturb Argentina as well.

"This is a game where you will find out about young players and it is the kind of game which shows which players are big and who are not so big.

"We have a quiet team but they have to talk on the pitch on Friday and we need 11 leaders for what is a game the whole world wants to see.

"That is how big it is, maybe the biggest in the group phase of this World Cup."