England hit for four

Sweden 4 England 0 - European Women's Championship

England, who lined up in 4-5-1 formation to counter the attacking flair of the Swedes, stared the game full of confidence but that evaporated after two minutes when Sweden took the lead.

A corner from the left aimed to the far post found left back Jayne Tornquist who ghosted into the box to plant a firm header past the stunned Pauline Cope in the England goal.

England looked ill at ease for much of the first half with the new formation and only occasionally did they manage to break into the Swede's half. A failure to look after the ball when they did get it added to England woes.

It was always a question of when, rather than if, Sweden scored again and they duly did after 26 minutes, Kristen Bengtsson firing  an unstoppable volley past Cope's left arm from 18 yards out.

With Rachel Yankey replacing Sue Smith at the beginning of the second half and Kelly Smith, regarded as England's best player, coming on for Becky Easton, England played better in the second half and took the game to Sweden but they still had the better of the chances.

Late in the second half Hanna Ljungberg grabbed a third for Sweden, running onto Svensson's delicate through ball before slipping her shot past Cope. It was Ljungberg's 15th goal in 11 internationals and served to emphasise Sweden's dominance.

Sofia Eriksson made it 4-0 direct from a corner in the closing stages to seal a well-earned victory.