Downing wins praise from Eriksson England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson believes Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing could make an impact on the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Downing, 20, earned his first cap when he came on as a substitute in the goalless draw with Holland.
"Downing could be ready for the World Cup," Eriksson told www.thefa.com. "You never know when he could be ready.
"Before I picked Joe Cole and waited for him to be ready. Suddenly he has become ready, so you never know."
Eriksson added: "The left-sided player does not have to be left-footed. It would be good to have a left-footer but there is a small percentage of them. You can dream about it but sometimes you don't find one."
The Swede believes some of his big players need to be at the top of their game if England are to win the tournament next year.
However, he admits his side also need to be fortunate with injuries and vital refereeing decisions.
"Normally teams that win big tournaments have one or two super players, like Pele or Maradona. I hope we have one next year," he added.
"They way we are playing and the confidence in the squad is fantastic. I know the squad is growing and that's good for the future.
"We also need some luck. When I talk about luck I mean if you hit the post the ball goes in - and I hope we don't get any wrong decisions from referees.
"You can't practice luck. If we don't have any injuries I am very very confident we will qualify and when we get there we will have a very good World Cup.
"It is played in Europe which is good for us. Only one South American team has won a World Cup in Europe - Brazil in 1958. All the rest of them have been European teams."
