WORLD CUP/Group B: Sweden 2, England 2 It was all the way back in 1954 when a team other than Germany, Brazil or Argentina last put England out of a World Cup finals but those three have managed the feat with some regularity.
Now, after a game that they were fortunate to draw despite leading twice, Sven Goran Eriksson's men have good reason to be relieved that as group winners they have avoided an early encounter with the first of those three nations and rendered less likely a quarter final against the third.
Against a side of any real quality it remains desperately hard to see England being good enough but Ecuador will now provide the opposition in the first of the knockout stages on Sunday and to judge by their display against the hosts yesterday, Eriksson's men should now make it rather comfortably to the quarter-finals.
For the third time, though, they have turned in a deeply flawed performance and may, into the bargain, have lost one of their desperately few striking options, Michael Owen, to injury. On balance, one suspects those a history of sending them home, even a severely limited Germany, would be happy to be handed the task again here.
For more than half an hour last night, however, they were genuinely impressive against a Swedish side that took a long time to settle.
Joe Cole's opening goal 11 minutes short of the break was no more than they deserved given their early superiority and when Steve Gerrard headed home, this time completely against the run of play, five minutes from time it seemed they were finally going to end their 38 year run without a win against the Swedes.
Between the two England goals, however, Marcus Allback scored a header and in the dying seconds of the 90 minutes a hapless attempt to defend a Erik Edman throw from the left, with Sol Campbell the worst offender, allowed Henrik Larsson to get the slightest of touches and salvage a draw for the Swedes who must now play the hosts.
England's hopes of victory were dealt a blow before the game had hit its stride when Michael Owen went awkwardly over on his right knee and had to be stretchered off. On came Crouch and out the window, you suspected, went England's original game-plan of running at the heart of a Swedish defence that had yet to be tested at this tournament.
Instead, the Liverpool striker had a subdued first half while all around him team-mates subjected opponents to almost constant torment. In a first half performance that again underlined how important he is to the team when fit, Wayne Rooney was at the heart of most Swedish problems while Joe Cole and Frank Lampard were repeatedly given the scope to get forward and try their luck.
The Swedes didn't want for possession during those early exchanges but for the moment, at least, they were proving largely incapable of using the ball to good effect in the last third of the pitch.
Barely once during the opening half did a ball forward reach Larsson or Allback in a remotely promising position while from set pieces things were worse with a succession of corners and a couple of frees failing to produce even a solitary decent ball into the danger zone.
While the English defence was proving highly effective at one end, Lars Lagerback's men at the other were consistently giving their opponents too much time on the ball, something they were finally to pay for when Niclas Alexandersson's 34th minute headed clearance fell nicely to Joe Cole whose chested control and looping shot had the look of the training ground about it until you saw Andreas Isaksson lunge desperately towards his top corner in a doomed effort to keep the ball out.
When Lampard narrowly missed the target with an effort of his own not long after, England looked well capable of adding to their lead but they failed to so while on top and the Swedes gradually steadied themselves.
They started the second period in a much brighter fashion and equalised just five minutes in when Tobias Linderoth's corner from the left was met with a flicked header from Allback that flew across the goal and in over Ashley Cole.
From there it went, with the exception of Gerrard's late conversion of Joe Cole's finely weighted cross, steadily down hill for Sven Goran Eriksson's side. They survived another couple of corners by the skin of their teeth with Paul Robinson producing an exception save when Larsson's header took a deflection off the arm of Jamie Carragher and Gerrard clearing Kim Kallstrom's low shot off the line.
Gerrard had arrived on Rooney who, having faded badly, was replaced to his obvious displeasure. One again, though, the result was good enough. But time is running out before England have to produce a performance that comes even close to matching the scale of their stated ambition.
SUBSITUTES
SWEDEN: Andersson for Linderoth (90 mins), Wilhelmsson for Jonson (54 mins), Elmander for Allback (74 mins). Subs Not Used: Alvbage, Hansson, Ibrahimovic, Nilsson, Rosenberg, Shaaban, Stenman, Anders Svensson, Karl Svensson. Booked: Alexandersson, Ljungberg. Goals: Allback 51, Larsson 90.
ENGLAND: Campbell for Ferdinand (56 mins), Gerrard for Rooney (69 mins), Crouch for Owen (4 mins). Subs Not Used: Bridge, Carrick, Carson, Downing, James, Jenas, Lennon, Neville, Walcott. Booked: Hargreaves. Goals: Joe Cole 34, Gerrard 85.
Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland).
