England - 0 Nigeria - 0 Three previous World Cup winners are already out of the tournament yet England are not among them. Given the severity of their group and the poverty of their start this is no small achievement for Sven-Goran Eriksson's youthful and largely inexperienced side.
The prosaic manner of England's last scoreless step to the knockout stage matters less than the fact that they are there at all. Anyone tempted to cavil at the size of their failure yesterday to beat an already eliminated Nigeria would do well to recall the critical hand-wringing that followed their wretched second-half performance in the opening 1-1 draw with Sweden.
True, a win against Nigeria would, as things turned out, have seen England win Group F and with it an extra day's grace before the second round. Now instead of meeting Senegal on Sunday Eriksson's team will face Denmark the day before. There are compensations. For England, playing in the relative cool of an evening near the mountains in northerly Niigata will be preferable to Oita, the southernmost Japanese venue, on an afternoon that will probably be even hotter than it was here in Osaka yesterday.
For Eriksson, moreover, a second-round confrontation with Denmark will present him with a European devil he knows rather than an African demon that might have more surprises in store. The Danes will be as strong defensively as the Swedes and possibly more dangerous in attack, but for England's Scandinavian coach they will have nothing up their sleeve.
Encouragingly, England's record against Denmark is much better than that against Sweden. They have lost to the Danes only once, 1-0 at Wembley in 1983 in a European Championship qualifier. And on the evidence of last Friday's performance in beating Argentina they ought to have the measure of Morten Olsen's team.
Against this, Denmark's confidence will be buoyant after victories over Uruguay and France, and in Jon Dahl Tomasson they have the happy coincidence of a striker who has chosen the World Cup to find a prolific vein of form.
England's football in Japan has been more notable for its resilience than its attacking flair. Against Argentina, admittedly, signs of the incisive finishing that had distinguished their 5-1 win in Germany in the qualifiers re-emerged, yet there is no escaping the fact that the two goals they have scored in the finals have come from a corner and a penalty.
On Saturday Michael Owen and Emile Heskey will need to look more of an attacking partnership than they did yesterday. All right, it was hot and humid and, with only a point needed, England could afford to save their energy. Nevertheless Owen, having hit a post in the previous game and unnerved Argentina with his speed, was a disappointment while Heskey bumbled around.
Scoring against Nigeria was never going to be easy. They defended efficiently and in Isaac Okoronkwo had the second best defender on the field. He was eclipsed by another superb performance from Rio Ferdinand, who is fast becoming England's player of the tournament. There were a couple of moments early in the second half when Ferdinand saved awkward situations with the cool aplomb of a Bobby Moore.
England are where they are largely because they protected a point against Sweden through two saves from David Seaman and the win against Argentina through the midfield solidity of Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes and improvement as a pair of Ferdinand and Sol Campbell.
The relaxed tempo of yesterday's match was not suited to Owen's explosive style, yet when he did receive a quick ball from Butt 10 minutes from half-time he swept past two defenders as if they were swing doors. A goal then would have renewed his spirits in good time for the Danes.
As it was, the moment inspired England's best attacking spell, culminating in the 30-yard drive from Scholes that Vincent Enyeama pushed against the post two minutes before half-time. Scholes's ability to produce sudden thunderous shots on goal with barely a glance at the target could be England's best hope of penetrating the tight Danish defence.
Certainly England will need to remember the better attacking moments of their first two matches and seek to reproduce these on a more regular basis. It might also be an idea for Eriksson to get his squad practising penalties. If ever a game was a shootout waiting to happen, it is this one.
Guardian Service
SUBSTITUTES
Nigeria: Pius Ikedia for Femi Opabunmi (86 mins). England: Teddy Sheringham for Emile Heskey (69); Darius Vassell for Michael Owen (77); Wayne Bridge for Ashley Cole (85)
