England draw 2-2 with Sweden

England and Sweden were held to a 2-2 scoreline with a late flurry of goals but both teams were guaranteed a place in the second round of the World Cup.

Joe Cole put England 1-0 up in the 34th minute with a spectacular goal when he chested the ball down from over 30 metres out and volleying perfectly into the top right corner. However, Sweden fought back after the break to equalise through Marcus Allback's header off a Tobias Linderoth delivery in the 51st minute. It was also the 2000th goal scored in the World Cup.

Gerrard came on for Rooney in the 69th minute and he made important contributions immediately by clearing a powerful shot from Kim Kallstorm off the goalline. He then put England ahead again in the 86th minute with a header but Henrik Larsson tied the game in the last minute by touching in the ball from a long throw in.

Despite being an England fan, Soccer Pundit will not kid himself by saying that England is a top contender, in fact, they have not shown anything yet to suggest that they deserve to be in the Finals. No doubt, it was an improvement over the last 2 matches and the players showed some fine moves and touches but the defence was a shambles.

They looked too vulnerable at times and if it cracks under the Swedish attacks, then it would not withstand the onslaught from the Argentinian, Brazilian or German attacks. They also lacked the killer touch. For the record, Sweden has not lost to England in 12 matches stretching back 38 years. The strongest England line-up in 40 years but still the record stands and once again a performance which did not live up to its billing...