England's national football coach is defending his team's two-game tour of the United States in May immediately following the domestic season.
Sven-Goran Eriksson says players have the choice whether or not to play in the exhibition games. He says managers of top English clubs should be happy he chose not to play World Cup qualifying games in June, when the players would be required to join the national team.
Coaches for both Manchester United and Arsenal are upset by the timing to play friendlies in Chicago and New York, and have threatened to withhold their players from the national team.
England plays the U.S. national men's team on May 28 in Chicago and Colombia on May 31 near New York.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
