Tuesday, 20th June 2006
England Just Can't Beat Sweden
Sweden vs England
Köln
Previous Encounters:
England have not beaten the Swedes in the last 11 matches, stretching back 37 years. The
last time they met was for a friendly in Gothenburg, on 31st March 2004; which Sweden won
(1:0).
The two teams drew (1:1) in Saitama, during the Korea-Japan 2002 World Cup Finals.
The Match:
Michael Owen rolled over on the touchline in the first minute, with what looked like a
twisted knee.
While the part-time Newcastle striker was getting treatment, Wayne
Rooney lined up Frank Lampard for a long-range shot.
England's early domination eventually paid dividends when Joe Cole, on
the left, took the ball on his chest and volleyed it into the top right corner of the
goal; a screaming goal equal to anything we've seen so far in this classic World Cup
Finals. And Sven Goran Eriksson dropped his composure to show his delight.
Sweden tried to play the English game but England played it better,
for the first-half.
Half-time: (0:1).
Then things went wrong.
It doesn't matter how much control you have of the game, if you don't
turn it into goals there's always a chance the other team will get back into the game; and
Sweden did, twice.
A Tobias Linderoth corner, six minutes after the break, was headed
into the top right corner by Marcus Allback; who got away from David Beckham on the front
post. What is Beckham doing on the front post?
Four minutes later, from another Swedish corner, England looked in
trouble again.
Just a few minutes after Steven Gerrard came on for Wayne Rooney, the
Liverpool captain cleared Kim Kallstrom's shot off the line; things not going England's
way at all, in the second-half.
Steven Gerrard then saved England at the other end, by heading them
back into the lead with five minutes to go.
Then Henrik Larsson equalised in the last minute of normal time, to
make England nervous during injury time.
Final Score:
Sweden 2 - England 2
 Goalscorers:
0:1 Joe Cole (33)
1:1 Marcus Allback (51)
1:2 Steven Gerrard (85)
2:2 Henrik Larsson (90)
Teams
Sweden:
1 Andreas Isaksson; 3 Olof Mellberg, 4 Teddy Lucic, 5 Erik Edman;
6 Tobias Linderoth, 7 Niclas Alexandersson, 9 Fredrik Ljungberg,
16 Kim Kallstrom, 18 Mattias Jonson; 11 Henrik Larsson, 20 Marcus
Allback.
England:
1 Paul Robinson; 3 Ashley Cole, 5 Rio Ferdinand, 6 John Terry, 15 Jamie Carragher; 7 David
Beckham, 8 Frank Lampard, 11 Joe Cole, 16 Owen Hargreaves; 9 Wayne Rooney, 10 Michael
Owen.
Referee:
Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)
 Substitutions:
4 Mins (England) - 21 Peter Crouch on for 10 Michael Owen
54 Mins (Sweden) - 21 Christian Wilhelmsson on for 18 Mattias Jonson
56 Mins (England) - 12 Sol Campbell on for 5 Rio Ferdinand
69 Mins (England) - 4 Steven Gerrard on for 9 Wayne Rooney
74 Mins (Sweden) - 17 Johan Elmander on for 20 Marcus Allback
90 Mins (Sweden) - 19 Daniel Andersson on for Tobias Linderoth
 3 Yellow
Cards:
76 Mins - Owen Hargreaves (England)
83 Mins - Niclas Alexandersson (Sweden)
87 Mins - Fredrik Ljungberg (Sweden)
 0 Red Cards.
Paraguay vs Trinidad & Tobago
2006 World Cup Finals - Knockout Stage.
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