 England began their World Cup campaign
with an unconvincing draw against
a Sweden team who dominated the second
half and could easily have snatched
victory.
Sol Campbell opened the scoring for England
with a powerful header after 24 minutes,
but Niclas Alexandersson deservedly equalised
after 59 minutes following a Danny Mills
blunder.
Both teams went in search of a winner but
England had lost the momentum they enjoyed
in the first half and Sweden seemed the
likelier to score again.
England now face Argentina on Friday
without the win they so badly craved
from their opening fixture, while
Sweden play Nigeria.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's men were far from
their best, adopting a direct approach that
- while at times in the first-half effective
- far too often allowed the opposition to
claim possession. Sweden were also sluggish throughout the opening
half but - following the introduction of
Southampton's Anders Svensson - attacked
with purpose from midfield after the break.
Eriksson's team made a positive, direct
start to the match - pushing forward
quickly to try and exploit a perceived
lack of pace within the Sweden defence. Darius Vassell in particular enjoyed a
lively start, twisting and turning to good
effect without actually testing Magnus Hedman.
But England's early endeavour was eventually
rewarded with a goal. An attacking foray by Ashley Cole led to
the game's first corner - and Sol Campbell
converted David Beckham's subsequent curling
kick with a bullet header. Campbell - who had a headed goal disallowed
against Argentina in the 1998 World
Cup - charged away to celebrate his
first England goal.
Sweden's first shot at goal came
after 39 minutes, Marcus Allback shooting
sharply and forcing a tidy save from
David Seaman.
And minutes later Allback blazed over
after holding off Ferdinand as a scrappy
first-half drew to a close.
Sweden created several half chances in
the early phase of the second-half and Allback
felt he should have been awarded a penalty
when he was challenged by Ferdinand after
51 minutes.
Conversely, England began the second-half
hesitantly and were punished when Alexandersson
equalised after 59 minutes. Mills failed to clear the ball, which was
eventually bundled out to the Swedish midfielder,
who found space in a central position and
fired home from 20 yards. Allback's shot was close to Seaman but
swerved through the air and deceived the
Arsenal goalkeeper.
Minutes later Seaman brilliantly saved
from Teddy Lucic to prevent Sweden - now
dominating - from taking the lead. And after 64 minutes Seaman smothered another
Lucic shot after a sweeping Swedish moved
had created a superb shooting opportunity.
England skipper David Beckham ineffective
through the second half was substituted
for Kieron Dyer after 63 minutes as England's
grip on the game loosened. Michael Owen shot against the side netting
with 20 minutes left - but it was an isolated
effort from a team struggling to remain
on level terms.
Sweden pushed forward throughout the closing
stages and created half chances.
Ragged England - by now totally lacking
cohesion - held on for a point but have
still not beaten Sweden since a 3-1 win
in 1968.
England
Seaman, Mills, A Cole, Ferdinand,
Campbell, Heskey, Hargreaves, Scholes, Beckham,
Vassell, Owen.
Sweden
Hedman, Mellberg, Mjallby, Linderoth,
Alexandersson, Ljungberg, Allback, Larsson,
Jakobsson, Lucic, Svensson.
Referee: Carlos Simon (Brazil). |
Soccer Media
