© Reuters 2002

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - England will use the World Cup finals in Korea and Japan as a learning experience in their bid to land a major trophy by 2006, says Football Association (FA) chief executive Adam Crozier.

Speaking to the FA website ahead of Friday's draw for the qualifying tournament for Euro 2004 in Portugal, Crozier said England manager Sven Goran Eriksson and his staff believe they are already ahead of schedule in their bid for success.

"Everybody in the organisation from Sven to the coaches and players is committed to winning a major tournament by 2006," Crozier said.

"We think we are ahead of where we expected to be and the best place for players to learn is at the World Cup finals.

"Now we are there we want to do well. But we have a young side, improving all the time. If they keep up their progress we must believe we've got a better chance of winning Euro 2004."

As for the European championships' draw, Crozier said: "It feels funny to get your mind focused on 2004 when we are concentrating on the World Cup finals.

"But it's important because once the summer is over we are straight into the programme for qualification." England have been put among the second tier of nations in Friday's five-tiered draw involving 50 countries.

The qualifying tournament will run from September 2002 to October 2003, with playoffs being held in October 2003.