A game during which England made but spurned countless chances resulted in defeat, thanks to Zlatan Ibrahimovic's ability to take advantage of the one opening that came his way.

There were plusses for Sven, notably the immediate understanding struck up between John Terry and Jonathan Woodgate and the confidence with which Defoe approached hissenior bow,but any defeat is a disappointment, not least one so close to the European Championship.

It’s also a shame that Steven Gerrard should lose his unbeaten England record on the night that he captained his country for the first time.

However, if lessons learned in a friendly are heeded when it comes to the real business of the summer, this exercise will ultimately prove a fruitful one.

The evening did not start well. Mellberg’s heavy challenge on Darius Vassell put the Villa man out of the game, disrupting Sven’s best-laid plans as early as the tenth minute. In Vassell’s stead came Tottenham's Defoe and the little livewire loved every minute of it.

Tord Grip has told TheFA.com that Defoe is the ‘closest thing that we have to Michael Owen’ and he certainly looked at ease at this level.

The Spurs striker was straight into the action, arrowing in a snap-shot that Wayne Rooney instinctively diverted onto the post. It was the first of a string of England near misses.

Owen Hargreaves, standing in for David Beckham, curled in a splendid free-kick, well worthy of the master himself, on 26 minutes. The Bayern battler was unlucky to see his effort strike the angle of bar and post.

The openings kept coming but not the crucial strike. A goal looked odds-on when Wayne Rooney took control of chaos in the Swedish box and fired in an effort, only to see it blocked well by Isaksson on the line.

Sweden only awoke from their slumbers just before the interval when Wilhelmsson found enough space at the far post to crack in a volley that unnerved the England defence.

It was a warning of things to come.

When the curtain went up for the second half, for a couple of minutes we found ourselves watching the Defoe show.

First he dribbled from the halfway line and thumped in a shot which Isaksson did well to tip over. Then he was on hand to find the side-netting with a scissor-kick from the resulting corner. Sven will have liked the young man’s style.

Suddenly, though, Sweden changed the course of the game with a quality strike. Ibrahimovic's wonderful finish gave the hosts the lead on 53 minutes.

Meeting Tobias Linderoth’s cross at the near post, the big man snaked out a foot to delicately flick the ball beyond James and into the far corner. It may have been against the run of play but goals count for far more than pressure.

It might have been two when Kim Kallstrom went powering through the inside-left channel, only to drive his shot just wide.

Wilhelmsson, whose performance will surely have alerted more than a couple of Premiership managers, had another great chance when he danced around Phil Neville and charged into the box on 77 minutes. This time it was James’ legs that blocked the 24-year-old’s effort and kept the margin at one.

Sven threw on Heskey and Smith to add presence to the front line but it was not to be.

We have not beaten Sweden for 36 years. When, at the very end, Joe Cole was unable to convert England’s last and arguably best chance, that record remained firmly in place.

Sven will not be happy with the defeat but he will not over-analyse the negatives either. He has more important things to worry about - like naming his squad for EURO 2004 on 17th May.

Team Details

Sweden: Isaksson (Kihlstedt, 45), Lucic, Mellberg (Hansson, 45), Mjallby, Edman, Nilsson, Anders Andersson (Linderoth, 45), Anders Svensson (Kallstrom, 45), Wilhelmsson, Ibrahimovic (Ostlund, 90), Elmander (Jonson, 45).
Subs not used: Hedman, Christoffer Andersson, Dorsin, Farnerud.

England: James, Neville, Terry (Southgate, 45), Woodgate (Gardner, 45), Carragher, Hargreaves (Jenas, 60), Gerrard (Joe Cole, 60), Butt (Parker, 78), Thompson (Smith, 60), Vassell (Defoe, 12), Rooney (Heskey, 60).
Subs not used: Robinson, Mills, Green, Walker, Samuel, Wright-Phillips.

Booked: Edman, Neville

Attendance: 40,464.

Referee: Tom Ovrebo (Norway).