Owen gets going

Michael Owen scored his 25th England goal as Sven-Göran Eriksson’s men showed enough encouraging signs in the first half to suggest a team pattern emerging for Euro 2004.

Owen is now exactly halfway to becoming the first England international to reach 50 goals – Sir Bobby Charlton’s current record currently standing at 49.

And like Owen, England’s plans for Portugal also look halfway there – plenty to impress in the performances of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole but also things to work on, most notably the number of shooting chances had by Japan, sealed by Shinji Ono’s 53rd minute equaliser.

Sven picked Lampard ahead of Nicky Butt for the England diamond in midfield and at times the Chelsea man’s interplay with Messrs Beckham, Gerrard and Scholes was exemplary.

Terry set the tone for his impressive display with a fifth minute header from Beckham’s corner that he claimed had crossed the line before a save from Seigo Narazaki.

England’s domination of possession made Lampard more than merely the ‘holding player’. He burst forward after 16 minutes and sent a fierce goalbound that was deflected for a corner by Keisuke Tsuboi.

Japan reached the knockout stages of the last World Cup and beat Iceland 3-2 on Sunday in the opening game of this FA Summer Tournament.

They are clearly no mugs but could hardly get the ball before England went ahead after 23 minutes.

Inevitably, Lampard was involved before Steve Gerrard unleashed a low shot which had too much power for Narazaki to hold.

The ball spilled out from the ‘keeper and Owen was Johnny on the Spot to tuck home the rebound from six yards.

The goal woke Japan up and suddenly David James became England’s most important player.

For the remainder of the first half, James was busy – pulling off full-length saves from Shumsuke Nakamura and Ono.

Japanese skipper Tsuneyasu Miyamoto then escaped England’s marking at a corner but headed wide.

Beckham, cheered whenever he touched the ball, did two Zinedine Zidane-style turns to delight the crowd although he also gave them a scare late on when he required treatementfor a couple of minutes following a challenge by Myamoto.

England, who face Iceland at the same venue on Saturday, tired as the game wore on and Ono had time to beat James with a sweet low finish after 53 minutes after Japan had broken smartly down England’s right flank.

The immediate response was Wayne Rooney producing the pass of the match for Owen, who was denied by Narazaki and Beckham then having a free-kick parried by the goalkeeper.

Sven waited until the 77th minute to make changes, sending on Emile Heskey, Darius Vassell and Kieron Dyer, followed four minutes later by Nicky Butt, Joe Cole and Owen Hargreaves.

Gary Neville was replaced by brother Phil after a late challenge from sub Takayuki Suzuki. And James ensured England got a draw with a late save from Alessandro Santos.

Team Details

England: James, Gary Neville (P Neville, 86), Terry (King, 88), Campbell, Ashley Cole; Lampard (Butt, 81), Beckham (Joe Cole, 77), Gerrard (Hargreaves, 81), Scholes (Dyer, 77); Owen (Vassell, 77), Rooney (Heskey, 77)

Japan: Narazaki, Nakazawa, Miyamoto, Tsuboi, Santos, Ono, Inamoto, Kaji, Nakamura, Tamada (Suzuki, 60), Kubo (Yanagisawa, 60).

Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy).