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Trinidad & Tobago v Sweden:
Olof Mellberg has received the unqualified backing of Sweden coach Lars Lagerback.
The Aston Villa defender is preparing to face Trinidad and Tobago in their opening Group B game after a difficult season in the Barclays Premiership.
However he will again captain Sweden and win his 65th cap in the process.
Mellberg, 28, took the ye in recent warm up games against Chile and Finland.
It proved to Lagerback that he was getting back to his best.
He said: ``I don't think Olof's confidence has been affected by his season at Aston Villa. He is mentally strong.
` `When he arrived for the start of our preparation, he had not played so much.
``But after this week's practice in two recent matches he seems as fit as he has ever been both physically and mentally.
``There is no problem surrounding him in my opinion.''
With matches against Paraguay and England to come Lagerback hopes his team hit the ground running.
He said: ``I hope we will be ahead of England at the end of the group games but it will be a tight race between the three of us (Sweden, England, Paraguay).
``However we are not looking on this game against Trinidad as a warm up, not at all.
``When you are playing your first match in the World Cup it is always very important. You have to be focused and Trinidad will be a tricky team to play against even though they are the underdogs.
``They have quality in their side, you just have to look at what they achieved over the winter. If we are not playing well we can lose such a game.''
Lagerback takes heart from the fact that he has plenty of attacking options with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Freddie Ljungberg and Henrik Larsson to call on.
The experienced coach said: ``It is always good to have that feeling you can score goals.
``It is good for confidence and there are good skills throughout the whole team.
``So it is satisfactory for me as a coach to have that feeling and I am sure the players feel the same way.
``But we have to make sure we don't let them score the first goal. That is important because it could become difficult after that.''
Former Arsenal goalkeeper Rami Shaaban looks set to replace Andreas Isaksson between the posts as he is suffering from concussion.
John Alvbage is challenging Shaaban but Lagerback has dropped hints who will start.
He said: ``When you pick players you try to compare them and choose the one you think is the best.
``Shaaban has done well in training and I have also got to know him as a person. He is OK and I've seen him play some games for his club Frederikstad.''
Rangers centre-back Marvin Andrews has been ruled out of the game after suffering a recurrence of a knee injury.
The 30-year-old defender suffered the setback when he broke down in training, a massive blow for the nation and the player who has been one of their consistent performers during the qualifying campaign.
He is likely to be replaced by Brent Sancho or Ian Cox, who both play for Gillingham.
Trinidad coach Leo Beenhakker said: ``Marvin won't make it, that's for sure.
``The injury happened when he stepped a little bit wrong in training.
``He's had a scan on the knee and we will need 24 to 48 hours to try and calm it down.
``Then we will see how long it will take for him to be fit again.''
Rangers centre-back Andrew had forged a partnership with Wrexham's Dennis Lawrence, one of the main reasons why Trinidad went from being outsiders to securing a place in the finals.
Beenhakker added: ``It is a little bit of a problem as Marvin was playing on a certain level for Glasgow Rangers.
``He has international experience as well as Champions League experience. He is a very strong guy, a very important guy for the team but we have to accept the situation.
``Injuries are part and parcel of football. You hear about it all the time.
``After playing in all the qualifying matches Marvin is very unlucky.''
Andrews initially suffered cruciate ligament damage in the 2-0 win in the Bank of Scotland Premier League at Dundee on March 13 2005.
The injury forced him to pull out of the CIS Insurance Cup final win over Motherwell at Hampden Park the following week.
But once it was diagnosed as cruciate damage the registered faith healer defied medical advice and refused to have an operation.
