Sweden

2-2

England

Allback 51, Larsson 90

 

Cole 34, Gerrard 85


2006 World Cup Finals, Group B
Tuesday 20 June 2006
RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne

Joe Cole was thrilled with his wonder-goal that helped England secure first place in Group B and says the Three Lions are relishing the chance to face Ecuador in the next round.

Cole was named man of the match by FIFA's panel of experts and is on top form in Germany.

Joe Cole celebrates scoring a brilliant strike which might be the goal of the tournament so far.He said: "It was a nice goal for me to score. I don’t normally hit them from there. I leave that to Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard because they normally have the thunderbolt shots! It bounced up nicely for me and I had a go and it was a nice goal.

"I have been personally happy with my start to the World Cup. I was involved in the first two games and played a part in both goals against Sweden.

"I am happy with the form and the main thing is that we have topped the group. We have given ourselves the easier route, in terms of rest and recuperation, to the final which was our objective.

"Sweden are a good side and I don’t think they caused us any problems from open play. Defending set-pieces proved a problem in the second half and that is very unusual for us because we have got some of the best players in the world when it comes to that.

"There is still a bit for us to be working on, but we don’t want to be peaking now and we want to improve in every game. We are happy that we finished top of the group and that is a job well done."

England v Sweden, FIFA World Cup, Cologne, 20 June 2005

England: Paul Robinson, Jamie Carragher, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand (Sol Campbell, 56), Ashley Cole, David Beckham, Owen Hargreaves, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Wayne Rooney (Steven Gerrard, 69), Michael Owen (Peter Crouch, 3).
Subs not used: David James, Scott Carson, Wayne Bridge, Gary Neville, Aaron Lennon, Stewart Downing, Jermaine Jenas, Michael Carrick, Theo Walcott

Sweden: Isaksson, Lucic, Mellberg, Edman, Alexandersson, Linderoth (Andersson, 90), Kallstrom, Ljungberg, Jonson (Wilhelmsson, 54), Larsson, Allback (Elmander, 74).
Subs not used: Alvbage, Hansson, Ibrahimovic, Nilsson, Rosenberg, Shaaban, Stenman, Anders Svensson, Karl Svensson.

Referee: Massimo Busacca (Sui)
Assistants: Francesco Buragina (Sui), Matthias Arnet (Sui)
Fourth Official: Khalil Al Ghamdi (Ksa)
Fifth Official: Fathi Arabati (Jor)