Sweden

2-1

England

Andersson 30

 

Shearer 2

Mjallby 33

 

 


Euro 2000 Qualifier
05 September 1998
Rasunda Stadium, Stockholm

Three months after the disappointment of their controversial World Cup exit to Argentina in St. Etienne, there was more sorrow for Glenn Hoddle's England as they began their Euro 2000 qualifying campaign with the worst possible result - a defeat.

England's line-up in the Rasunda was an adventurous one, with an attack-minded midfield that included Anderton and Le Saux as wing-backs, but there needed to be more ball-winners to protect the three-man defence.

England enjoyed a terrific start to the match, Alan Shearer scoring after just two minutes from a free-kick, and they were dominant for the first twenty minutes or so.

Then a lot of the passing started to go awry and the Swedes took advantage by charging forcefully at a hard-pressed English defence. The frustrating thing for Hoddle was that both Swedish goals were definately avoidable.

For the first on the half-hour, Seaman spilled a clever Schwarz free-kick and Andrew Andersson followed up smartly with a shot that deflected off Adams and wrong-footed his goalkeeper.

Worse was to follow for the visitors nas Kaamark's cross eluded Southgate, Seaman failed to advance to meet the danger and the ball bounced conveniently off Scholes for Mjallby to sneak in for a header.

Shearer, finally, had a chance with a header from Anderton's corner but it came to nothing, and when the Tottenham player later limped off, England's shape suffered even more. Their two central strikers - Shearer and Owen - were forced to head for the wings to try and get the ball.

When Ince was sent-off it completed what was all-in-all a poor match for the Three Lions.

Team Details

Sweden: Hedman, Nilsson, Andersson P., Bjorklund, Kaamark (Lucic), Schwarz, Andersson A. (Andersson D.), Mjallby, Ljungberg, Larsson, Petterson

England: Seaman, Campbell (Merson, 75), Le Saux, Ince, Adams, Southgate, Anderton (Lee, 43), Redknapp, Shearer, Owen, Scholes (Sheringham, 87)

Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy)
Attendance: 36,000