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Trevor Sinclair once again impressed as England qualified for the second round stage of the World Cup Finals on Wednesday with a 0-0 draw against Nigeria in Osaka.
The Hammers star made his first start in the tournament after Owen Hargreaves had been ruled out through injury, and put in a determined and hard-working performance as Sven-Goran Eriksson's men secured the point that sent them through as runners-up in Group F and set up a second round clash against Denmark in Niigata on Saturday (June 15).
Although England struggled to find any real fluency or create many goalscoring chances, Trevor provided England's greatest attacking threat from midfield and also managed to keep the highly talented Jay-Jay Okocha quiet for the majority of the game.
Eriksson also had an ex-Upton Park star to thank for England's progress, as Rio Ferdinand was once again the man-of-the-match with an outstanding defensive performance, keeping the dangerous Julius Aghahowa under wraps and thwarting the Nigerians with a number of timely and assured interceptions.
Joe Cole remained on the substitutes' bench as England played out the draw that would guarantee qualification for the second stage but, as he prepares to face the Danes on Saturday, Trevor Sinclair can be confident that his displays in the past two games have persuaded Eriksson that his dilemma on the left-side of midfield has finally been solved.
Meanwhile, Sweden were the other side to progress from the so-called 'Group of Death' as they held Argentina to a 1-1 draw that ensured top spot for the Scandinavians, and sent the South Americans home. Now isn't that a shame!