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England National Football Team Match No. 811

Sweden 1 England 0  [0-0]

Wednesday, 31 March 2004

Match Summary and Report

Match Summary and Report Team Records Sweden Pre-Match England Pre-Match


Nya Ullevi Stadion, Göteborg, 31 March 2004 - The team that faced Sweden.
Back row - Darius Vassell, Jamie Carragher, John Terry, David James, Jonathan Woodgate, Nicky Butt.
Front row - Phil Neville, Owen Hargreaves, Steven Gerrard (captain), Alan Thompson, Wayne Rooney.
 

Match Summary
Status: Friendly match, to commemorate the centenary of Svenska Fotbollförbundet (Sweden's Football Association).
Venue: Nya Ullevi Stadion, Göteborg, capacity 42,000.
Attendance: 40,464.
Goals: Sweden - Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 54th min.
Cautions: Sweden - Erik Edman, 41st min., unsporting behaviour.
England - Phil Neville, 54th min., unsporting behaviour.
Expulsions: None.
Officials:
(black)		 Referee - Tom Henning Øvrebø, 37 (26-Jun-1966), Norway, FIFA-listed since 1994.
Assistant Referees - Arild Sundet, 42 (06-Mar-1962), and Erik Ræstad, 39 (14-Jul-1964), Norway.
Fourth official - Edvard Proner Varnamo, Sweden
Conditions: Kickoff at 7:45 p.m. BST., 8:45 p.m. local time.
Miscellany: -
Statistics:

Type

Sweden

England
Goal Attempts - -
Attempts on Target - -
Hit Bar/Post - -
Corner Kicks Won - -
Offside Calls Against - -
Fouls Conceded - -
Time of Possession -  
Statistics:

-

Sweden Team
Ranking:

20th in FIFA ranking of 17 March 2004; 28th in Elo world ranking before this match and 27th after this match.

Colours: Gold shirts with dark blue side panels, dark blue shorts, dark blue stockings; special centenary kit made by Umbro.
Coach: Tommy Söderberg, 55, and Lars Lagerbäck, 55, appointed joint-coaches in January 2000.
Captain: Johan Mjällby.

Sweden Lineup
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
1-Isaksson, Andreas, sub off 46th min.. 03-Oct-1981 22 G

Djurgårdens IF

 17 0 2002-active
2-Lucic, Teddy 15-Apr-1973 30 D Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Germany 58 0 1995-active
3-Mellberg, E. Olof, sub off 46th min.. 03-Sep-1977 26 D Aston Villa FC, England 41 1 2000-active
4-Mjällby, Johan 09-Feb-1971 33 D Glasgow Celtic FC, Scotland 45 4 1997-active
5-Edman, Erik 11-Nov-1978 25 D SC Heerenveen, Netherlands 18 0 2001-active
6-Nilsson, Mikael 24-Jun-1978 25 M Halmstads BK 14 3 2002-active
13-Andersson, Anders, sub off 46th min.. 15-Mar-1974 30 M OS Belenenses, Portugal 21 2 1994-active
8-Svensson, Anders, sub off 46th min.. 17-Jul-1976 27 M Southampton FC, England 44 10 1999-active
20-Wilhelmsson, Christian 08-Dec-1979 24 F RSC Anderlecht, Belgium 44 10 2001-active
10- Ibrahimovic, Zlatan, sub off 90th min. 03-Oct-1981 22 F AFC Ajax, Netherlands 20 6 2001-active
15-Elmander, Johan, sub off 46th min.. 27-May-1981 22 M NAC Breda, Netherlands 8 3 2002-active

Sweden Substitutes
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
22-Kihlstedt, Magnus, sub on 46th min. for Isaakson 29-Feb-1972 32 G FC København, Denmark 13 0 1998-active
11-Jonson, Matthias, sub on 46th min.  for Svensson 16-Jan-1974 30 M Brøndby IF 37 6 1996-active
6-Linderoth, Tobias, sub on 46th min. for Andersson 21-Apr-1979 24 M Everton FC, England 33 1 1999-active
17-Källström, Kim, sub on 46th min. for Elmander 24-Aug-1982 21 M Stade Rennes FC, France 16 1 2001-active
21-Hansson, Petter, sub on 46th min. for Mellberg 14-Dec-1976 27 D SC Heerenveen, Netherlands 3 0 2001-active
19-Källström, Alexander, sub on 90th min. for Ibrahimovic 02-Nov-1978 25 D Hammarby IF 3 0 2003-active
Formation:

4-4-2
Isakson (Kihistedt) -
Lucic, Mellberg, Mjällby (Linderoth), Edman -
Nilsson, Svensson (Jonson), Andersson (Källström), Wilhelmsson -
Ibramhovic (Källström), Elmander (Hansson).
Substitutes
Not Used:		 Christoffer Andersson, Mikael Dorsin, Pontus Farnerud and Magnus Hedman.

England Team
Ranking:

6th in FIFA ranking of 17 March 2004; 7th in Elo world ranking before this match and 7th after this match.

Colours: Red shirts, white shorts, red stockings - The 2004 "away" uniform.
Coach: Sven-Göran Eriksson, 56, appointed 31 October 2000, took post 12 January 2001, 
36th match, W 19 - D 11 - L 6 - F 65 - A 34.
Captain: Steven Gerrard, his first captaincy; handed to Gareth Southgate in the 60th minute.

England Lineup
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
1-James, David B. 01-Aug-1970 33 G

Manchester City FC

 23 0 1997-active
2-Carragher, James L.D. 28-Jan-1978 26 D Liverpool FC 11 0 1999-active
3-Neville, Philip J. 21-Jan-1977 27 D Manchester United FC 46 0 1996-active
4-Gerrard, Steven G., sub off 60th min. 30-May-1980 23 M Liverpool FC 22 3 2000-active
5-Terry, John G., sub off 46th min.. 07-Dec-1980 23 D Chelsea FC 7 0 2003-active
6-Woodgate, Jonathan S., sub off 46th min.. 22-Jan-1980 24 D Newcastle United FC 5 0 1999-active
7-Hargreaves, Owen L., sub off 60th min. 20-Jan-1981 23 M FC Bayern München AG, Germany 17 0 2001-active
8-Butt, Nicholas, sub off 78th min. 21-Jan-1975 29 M Manchester United FC 33 0 1997-active
9-Rooney, Wayne M., sub off 60th min. 24-Oct-1985 18 F Everton FC 11 3 2003-active
10-Vassell, Darius, sub off 12th min. 13-Jun-1980 23 F Aston Villa FC 16 4 2002-active
11-Thompson, Alan, sub off 60th min. 22-Dec-1973 30 M Glasgow Celtic FC, Scotland 1 0 2004

England Substitutes
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
23-Defoe, Jermain C., sub on 12th min. for Vassell 07-Oct-1982 21 F Tottenham Hotspur FC 1 0 2004-active
15-Gardner, Anthony, sub on 46th min. for Terry 10-Sep-1980 23 D Tottenham Hotspur FC 1 0 2004-active
16-Southgate, Gareth, sub on 46th min. for Woodgate 03-Sep-1970 33 D Middlesbrough FC 57 2 1995-2004
17-Smith, Alan, sub on 60th min. for Thompson 28-Oct-1980 23 F Leeds United AFC 8 1 2001-active
19-Cole, Joseph J., sub on 60th min. for Gerrard 08-Nov-1981 22 M Chelsea FC 15 2 2001-active
20-Heskey, Emile W.I., sub on for 60th min. for Rooney 11-Jan-1978 26 F Liverpool FC 40 5 1999-active
21-Jenas, Jermaine A., sub on 60th min. for Hargreaves 18-Feb-1983 21 M Newcastle United FC 6 0 2001-active
18-Parker, Scott M., sub on 78th min. for Butt 13-Oct-1980 23 M Chelsea FC 2 0 2003-active
Formation: 4-4-2
James -
Neville, Terry (Gardner), Woodgate (Southgate), Carragher - 
Hargreaves (Jenas), Gerrard (Cole), Butt (Parker), Thompson (Smith) -
Rooney (Heskey), Vassell (Defoe)
Substitutes
Not Used:		 12-Danny Mills, 13-Paul Robinson, 14-Robert Green, 22-Shaun Wright-Phillips, 24-JLloyd Samuel, 25-Ian Walker.

Match Report

 

England's 36-year winless streak against Sweden continued after Zlatan Ibrahimovic's second-half winner.  The Ajax striker stabbed home from close range after 53 minutes to sink an experimental England side.  England dominated the first 45 minutes, with Wayne Rooney and Owen Hargreaves hitting the woodwork.

The bright spot for England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson was Jermain Defoe's display after coming on as an early substitute for injured Darius Vassell.  England gave a debut to Celtic's Alan Thompson, but Eriksson's plans were disrupted by an early injury to Aston Villa's Vassell.  He stayed down clutching his ankle after a tackle from Villa team-mate Olof Mellberg after six minutes, and struggled on briefly before he was replaced by another debutant, Spurs striker Defoe.  He formed a lively partnership with Wayne Rooney, and the Everton striker almost broke the deadlock in the 13th minute.  Defoe's shot flashed across the face of goal, and Rooney stabbed a foot out but saw his effort strike the post and rebound along the line.

Owen Hargreaves was also cursing the woodwork after 25 minutes when he curled a right-foot free-kick on to the crossbar with Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson well beaten.  Sweden were barely a threat, and it took a fine save from Isaksson to deny Rooney from close range three minutes before the interval.

England made two more half-time changes, replacing Jonathan Woodgate and John Terry with Anthony Gardner and Gareth Southgate.  Sweden made five changes and they worked in their favour as they took the lead after 53 minutes.

The lively Ibrahimovic darted in front of Jamie Carragher to stab Kim Kallstrom's cross past David James.  It prompted a quartet of changes from Eriksson, with Gerrard, Rooney, Hargreaves and Thompson replaced by Joe Cole, Alan Smith, Emile Heskey and Jermaine Jenas.  But England were struggling to achieve cohesion and Kallstrom almost doubled Sweden's lead after 75 minutes, firing powerfully into the side-netting.

Phil Neville was having a nightmare evening and James needed to save well from Christian Wilhelmsson after he easily evaded the Manchester United defender.  Cole had a chance to snatch an equaliser for England in injury-time, but he fired over the top from only eight yards.

 

Source Notes

  Sources

The Swedish FA website and Sky Sports
BBC Sport

 

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