INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY: England 1 Sweden 0:NORMALITY CAN be a trial. England were back in the context of mundane if eager football, in a game they won deservedly if narrowly. There were satisfactions as an array of players each relished a little chance to show their value. The single goal was a muddle. In addition, Stewart Downing and Phil Jones would have pleased Fabio Capello.
Everything had been scaled down from Saturday’s victory over the world and European champions Spain. The crowd was as reduced as the scale of the opposition – but the match had an attractive, north European tone of its own, with plenty of exertion and the odd muddle. In that context there could have been little more apt than the decisive goal from a Downing cross that found the head of Gareth Barry and went into the net off the visitors’ centre-back Daniel Majstorovic in the 22nd minute.
With Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard entering the veteran phase, England need to look for different sources of verve. Energy could be counted on with Jack Rodwell and Phil Jones bringing youth to two of the three midfield places.
Whatever the difficulties John Terry may be having off the field, there was a likelihood Sweden would ensure his mind was kept purely on the challenge of this match. Bobby Zamora was in the target man post but was not simply stolid. His vigour saw him link with Theo Walcott and have two driven shots, the second of which hit the side netting.
In a reinstatement of an old theme, an English audience continued to nurse its customary disregard of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a formidable striker thought over-rated in these parts. His removal at the interval guaranteed his reputation was not upgraded. The main alarm by that stage had been caused by a Johan Elmander header into the side netting.
England relished the lead, even if it could well have been increased. They could not be relied upon to take their chances and a shot from Jones slipped beyond the post when the midfielder had no excuse for not involving the goalkeeper at the very least.
Substitutions were bound to be a factor on an occasion designed for experiment, with Daniel Sturridge making his debut. As usual the alterations made the match sag and Sweden might have detected possibilities. Some vim did come in the 64th minute as Downing hit a low cross from the left and Zamora put it wide.
But this was an occasion when Downing was hardly discouraged. A shot by him soon went close.
From Capello’s perspective this was an evening dedicated to player education. Coping while seeking a rapport was a worthwhile project. Capello did make concessions. There was not a great deal, for instance, that a well-established professional such as Darren Bent could take from this sort of occasion – but he came on in any case. The striker has been scoring consistently for England and the manager might have supposed he would kill off Sweden. It was not the kind of work that could be completed easily.
Guardian Service
ENGLAND:Hart (Carson 46), Walker, Cahill, Terry, Baines, Rodwell (Milner 58), Jones,Barry, Walcott (Sturridge 58), Zamora (Bent 70), Downing. Subs Not Used: Glen Johnson, Cole, Lescott, Parker, Lampard, Adam Johnson, Stockdale.
SWEDEN:Isaksson, Lustig (Wilhelmsson 54), Mellberg (Jonas Olsson 46), Majstorovic, Martin Olsson, Wernbloom, Kallstrom (Svensson 70), Larsson, Elmander, Elm (Bajrami 87), Ibrahimovic (Toivonen 46). Subs Not Used: Wiland, Granqvist, Safari, Gerndt, Almeback, Holmen. Booked: Elmander, Wernbloom.
Referee:P Kralovec (Czech Republic).
