Soccer: It was the sight English football has been longing to see - Wayne Rooney kicking a ball, applying his full force and apparently untroubled by the broken bone in his right foot.
He had not been due to resume training with a ball until Wednesday at the earliest but witnesses at Manchester United's training ground reported him "whacking in crosses from 30 yards".
Rooney could also be seen taking part in short sprints, twisting and turning with no adverse reaction, all under the watchful eye of United's physiotherapist Rob Swire and the club doctor Tony Gill.
"Very good," was Eriksson's first reaction. "If that is true, it's extremely good news and I'm very happy. I know he was doing a lot of running a couple of days ago and this is obviously good news."
Alex Ferguson may argue that it is still inconclusive, however encouraging, but Eriksson made little effort to disguise his excitement. The England coach said he had interrupted Rooney's fitness programme on Thursday to ask him when he thought he would be ready. "He replied: 'Saturday'. I asked him which Saturday and he said: 'This one.' That's his spirit and it's very good."
United's medical staff had informed Eriksson this week that Rooney's rehabilitation had suffered complications but there were positive vibes from Old Trafford last night.
Ferguson is on holiday and in his absence there appears to have been a more optimistic slant put on Rooney's chances of playing in the World Cup.
"I'm positive he will take part," said Eriksson, despite reporting that he had not sought direct information from doctors working with Rooney.
"The next update will be on Wednesday when he has his scan but I believe he will make it."
However, Eriksson has invited Jermaine Defoe, the Tottenham striker, to fly to Germany with the squad on Monday as a stand-by striker. Andrew Johnson, Everton's new £8.6 million signing, may also travel although his chances might now depend on one of the other forwards being injured in today's friendly against Jamaica when, despite training most of the week in a 4-1-4-1 formation, Eriksson is expected to revert to two strikers, with Peter Crouch coming in alongside Michael Owen.
Gary Neville will miss the game because of his tight hamstring, with Jamie Carragher deputising at right back.
David Dein, hitherto one of the major powerbrokers in English football, suffered a defeat yesterday that will have his detractors penning political obituaries. In an increasingly embarrassing week for the Arsenal vice-chairman he lost his position as a English FA board member.
The Premier League's 20 club chairmen voted against retaining Dein as one of their representatives on the board, although he will retain his place on the FA council. The Manchester United chief executive David Gill was elected in his place, along with Bolton's Phil Gartside, Blackburn's Robert Coar and Premier League chairman Dave Richards.
The move, coming 24 hours after revelations that Arsenal's relationship with their Belgian feeder club Beveren - an arrangement in which Dein was closely involved - would be the subject of a Fifa investigation through the FA, comes as a huge blow to the ambitions of the 62-year-old and his club.
The commanding political influence he has enjoyed since before the inception of the Premier League in 1992 has been shattered.
However, sources close to him insisted yesterday that he remained sanguine and that he might stand again for election in 12 months.
"This is football politics. We have seen it before and we will see it again," said the source, who put Dein's ejection down to "jealousy".
Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Rafael Bentiez has signed a contract to keep him at Anfield for another four years.
The new deal represents a one-year extension to Benitez' original contract and keeps him at the club he managed to Champions League glory in 2005 until 2010.
