England 1 - Sweden 1 
Campbell (24)  Alexandersson (59)






Sunday June 2nd, Saitama
18.30 kick off (10.30am bst)

Having held the lead for 35 minutes, England left the field visibly frustrated at having yielded to Sweden's onslaught but, by the time they have returned to the team base in Awaji on Monday afternoon, they will no doubt appreciate that a draw represents a respectable platform from which to build.

The road ahead is a formidable one, but that has not been changed by tonight's events. We began the game in fine form with Japan's worshipped duo, Beckham and Owen both showing early and looking sharp. Comforting too was the sight of Rio Ferdinand shifting up through the gears to outpace Larsson in their first sprint duel. Danny Mills' quick thinking and running on five minutes saw him latch onto an early Becks throw and his instant cross was only an inch away from the razor-sharp Owen.

England's pace unquestionably unsettled Sweden and another surging break from Hargreaves and Vassell down the left showed that the young Lions had enough speed to savage the opposition. There can be no doubt too that having Beckham back is a huge boost and the pride with which he led out this youthful team on the occasion of his 50th cap said everything about his determination to help England make an indelible mark on the world football's biggest stage. He may not have lasted the entire game tonight - Sven curtailed his first game for almost two months midway through the second period - but his influence and inspiration still looks to be the key to England's success.

Sven-Goran Eriksson believes that Beckham has the finest right foot in world football and, when he wrapped his boot around England's first corner on 23 minutes, there was a huge roar of admiration at its execution. Within a second, that roar had given way to an explosion of ecstasy as England's rock, Sol Campbell, careered into the area to meet the centre head-on. There was no stopping Sol's scorcher and it was a great sight to see the Arsenal man score his first goal for his country.

He'd come so agonisingly close in France '98 when his goal against Argentina was ruled out for a foul and, earlier this week, he'd suggested that it might just be the time to put things right. Tonight he did...and how.

The way the defence played in the first half it was difficult to see a way back for Sweden. The back five was drawn entirely from only two clubs (Leeds and Arsenal) and, save for an early Campbell booking for a late challenge on Larsson and two snap-shots from dangerous looking Allback, the rearguard comprehensively nullified Sweden's attacking intentions in the first forty five minutes.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the last forty five. Sweden started the second half as England had started the first. They took control of the game, pushing Sven's men back at every opportunity. Instead of dictating the game, England were now chasing it and didn't appear to be enjoying the experience.

 

Sven was honest enough to admit after the game that Sweden had deserved their equaliser, though the way in which it arrived will not have pleased him.

An innocuous looking through ball was only partially cleared to Alexandersson and the Everton man bit the hand that feeds him by thrashing the ball past an unsighted David Seaman. Sven's distress at conceding the goal will have been mirrored by every England fan - both here in Japan and back home.

It was a needlessly cheap manner in which to surrender a lead which had been so carefully built. With Swedish confidence now sky high, they streamed forward in search of a second. They would have got it too had David Seaman not foiled Teddy Lukic on two occasions with outstanding saves.

The value of his experience amidst England's youthful zest should not be underestimated.

England brought on Joe Cole with 18 minutes remaining. Darius Vassell was the man to make way and, though he can consider himself most unfortunate to have been withdrawn after he had so consistently worried the opposition with his pace and skill, you could only admire Sven's faith and confidence in chasing victory at a stage when many managers would have happily settled for the draw. The switch also allowed Heskey to move to his favoured position in the middle and his turn and shot late on was England's most dangerous attack in the second half.

Two minutes into injury time a rare Ashley Cole slip let in Larsson down the right. Thankfully his shot arrowed wide but, as England breathed a collective sigh of relief, there may have been just enough time to realise that there are worse ways to begin than with a draw.

Argentina and Nigeria now lie ahead. Under Sven we've shown a happy knack of rising to the big occasion - they don't come much bigger than the next two...

Starting Line ups;

England
Seaman, Mills, A Cole, Ferdinand, Campbell, Heskey, Hargreaves, Scholes, Beckham (Dyer, 63), Vassell (J Cole, 73), Owen.

Sweden
Hedman, Mellberg, Mjallby, Linderoth, Alexandersson, Ljungberg, Allback (Andersson, 79), Larsson, Jakobsson, Lucic, M Svensson (A Svensson, 55).

Referee: Carlos Simon (BRA)

Attendance: 52,721