Injuries marr England’s qualification

The Editor — Tue, June 20th 2006

England 2 - Sweden 2

Sven might have seen this game as a good opportunity to try a few different things out. He started with Rooney and Owen up front, but any chance for the 2 of them to show how they could link up were wrecked when Owen was stretchered off in the 1st minute with what appeared to be a tournament ending knee injury.

The remainder of the 1st half showed more promise than previous games. Hargreaves looked more comfortable starting in the middle of midfield, and England managed to string a few passes together. Joe Cole took advantage of space and took the game to Sweden. A fantastic 30-yard volley capped his first half performance.

An injury to Ferdinand early in the 2nd half left Eriksson with just one substitute to play with and with Rooney returning from injury it was always likely to be him rested, This denied England the opportunity to try Lennon or Walcott.

England’s defending of corners and free-kicks were amateurish, and gave Sweden there only likely source of goals, from which they scored their two equalisers.

Player ratings

Robinson: Looked shaky again with crosses. 5
Carragher: Looked like a centre back playing out of position, and seemed to be carrying an injury. 4
Cole (A): Improving with every game, providing good attacking support. 7
Terry: Will be unhappy that so many crosses by-passed him. 5
Ferdinand: Didn’t provide his usual calmness in defence. 5
Hargreaves: Played well in the first half. Very little came through the midfield from Sweden. 7
Beckham: Struggled defensively with the set-pieces, little threat going forward. 6
Lampard: Too often disappeared and didn’t have the scoring chances of previous matches. 6
Rooney: Still not fit, but did show flashes of creativity, and gave more passing options to midfield and defence. 6
Owen: Devastating injury in the first injury looks to have ended tournament.
Cole (J): Again the best performer, and looked the most creative player on the pitch. Great goal. 8

Subs:

Crouch: Struggled to make an impact. A few tame efforts on goal. 6
Campbell: Misjudgement for Sweden’s second equaliser. A bit off the pace and nor commanding at set pieces. 5
Gerrard: Made a 5th man in midfield, and seemed to have shored up the game. A great run to get on the end of Joe Cole’s cross for England’s second. 7

Set-pieces caused England huge amounts of trouble. Owen’s injury looked serious and Ferdinand’s gave Eriksson little chance to experiment.

The Fan