Twice in two tournaments under Sven-Goran Eriksson, England have been bundled out in the last eight, suffering the crushing disappointment of early exits at championships they had entertained hopes of winning. The common thread linking those twin ejections at the 2002 World Cup and European Championship in 2004 is Portugal coach Scolari.

Eriksson, who has insisted that England will be able to raise their game when it counts, may never have a better chance of getting the Scolari monkey off his back as Portugal struggle to regroup after suspensions to key players.

"I don't feel it's me against Scolari at all," he said. "It's England against Portugal, it's the quarter-final of the World Cup, and it's important to win it. I think we can."

Eriksson, however, does not do revenge and makes no apologies for his reserved dug-out demeanour, which is in stark contrast to the arm-waving, gesticulating touch-line histrionics of Brazilian Scolari.

"I couldn't care less," Eriksson said when asked if he was bothered by the unflattering comparisons of his management style to Scolari. "I've heard it for 30 years. Every time you lose a football game, something is wrong with the manager. I have no intention of changing. And if I haven't changed by now then I probably never will."

Yet regardless of whether Eriksson's management is to blame, it is undeniable that England has been far less than the sum of their parts in four matches so far. Having started the tournament lined up in 4-4-2, Eriksson is expected to persist with a 4-1-4-1 formation against Portugal.

With Gary Neville expected to return from a calf injury, Owen Hargreaves is likely to move into the holding role, allowing midfielders Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard licence to surge forward in support of lone striker Wayne Rooney.

David Beckham knows that another below-par performance could well spell the end of England's World Cup. "It has to click," the England skipper said. "Because we're talking about the quarter-final of a World Cup, the biggest competition in the world."

Beckham's loyal lieutenant Neville said that there could be no more excuses if England failed again. "I believe there is a time and a moment for players to deliver, and I believe it is Saturday," said Neville. "If we fail then we have to hold our hands up and say, 'we haven't delivered, that the talk about us being potential world champions was rubbish.' So this is it for us."