Day 12: Sweden vs. England

Sweden 2 -- England 2

#11 JOE COLE (England) 34'
#20 MARCUS ALLBACK (Sweden) 51'
#4 STEVEN GERRARD (England) 85'
#11 HENRIK LARSSON (Sweden) 90'

England, having never beat Sweden since 1968, were looking to to exorcise their demons, but yet again they will have to be content on waiting till they next meet. In a game that excited and intrigued, where fortunes ebbed and flowed, neither of the two teams can be dismayed at their performance, although Sweden must be concerned facing Germany rather than Ecuador. In a half that was largely dominated by the English, Joe Cole put the Queen's Men ahead with a royal touch on the ball as he sent a teasing trajectory of a volley over the diving Andreas Isaksson, who managed to flick it with his fingers but to no use. The Viking Squad, as opposed to the Firing Squad, came out with guns blazing in the second half as they wrested the intiative and pressed home the advantage and their efforts paid off very quickly and handsomely when Marcus Allback headed in a corner kick. One all! With England pretty much out of the game in this half it seemed the game was headed towards a deadlock but lo and behold, Gerrard headed in his second of the tournament to give the Barmy Army the lead. From the Champion's League final, one can easily look towards Henrik Larsson to provide the impetus for the final blow and this he did once again as he slotted home the final goal of the game for an exciting finish.

Both the Swedes and English looked good but once again Sweden never took hold of the game in the first half which could be costly against a team like Germany. England again seemed to run out of ideas and steam towards the end and looked very pedestrian so they ought to be happy with their match up against Ecuador.