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The battle in the World Cup B group has ended. In the final intense leaders match, England and Sweden played to a 2-2 draw and both national teams are heading to the round of 16, where they will respectively face Ecuador and Germany.
Rhein-Energie Stadium, Cologne 45 thousand spectators Referee: Massimo Busacca England 2 - 2 Sweden 34' [1 - 0] Joe Cole 51' [1 - 1] Marcus Allback 85' [2 - 1] Steven Gerrard 90' [2 - 2] Henrik Larsson
England P.Robinson; J.Carragher, R.Ferdinand (56' S.Campbell), J.Terry, A.Cole; D.Beckham, F.Lampard, O.Hargreaves, J.Cole; W.Rooney (69' S.Gerrard), M.Owen (4' P.Crouch). Sweden A.Isaksson; T.Lucic, O.Mellberg, E.Edman, N.Alexandersson; T.Linderoth (90' D.Andersson), K.Kallstrom, F.Ljungberg, M.Jonson (54' C.Wilhelmsson); H.Larsson, M.Allback (74' J.Elmander).
The match started tragically for the English - forward Michael Owen had to leave the field due to injury in the fourth minute. Initial forecasts suggest that this match could have been the last for the 26-year-old Englishman in the World Cup. For a while, the English national team was in a kind of shock state, so they didn't have any chances to score. Nevertheless, after trying their luck with several long shots, the English finally succeeded - one of the most active players, Joe Cole, stopped the ball with his chest and sent it directly into Andreas Isaksson's goal from about 30 meters with a fantastic shot. A few minutes later, Frank Lampard had a chance to double the score, but his shot from 20 meters went over the goal.
In the first half, England had the initiative, controlled the ball more, and deserved to lead. The team went into the break with a 1-0 lead in favor of Sven-Goran Eriksson's players. However, the second half was much better for the Swedes. Just 6 minutes into the game, striker Marcus Allback, facing little pressure from defenders, headed the ball into Paul Robinson's goal from a corner kick to equalize the score. A few moments later, the same forward had another chance, but the goalkeeper saved the goal at the last moment. Moreover, a few moments later, the crossbar saved the English goal - after another corner kick, the ball bounced to completely unmarked defender Olof Mellberg, who shot slightly inaccurately with his right foot. The pressure from the Swedish national team continued - soon Kim Kallstrom took a shot from outside the penalty area, but it was blocked by a player on the goal line. In the 85th minute, the English unfairly took the lead again when Steven Gerrard, who came on as a substitute, received a precise pass from J.Cole and headed the ball into the goal. However, their lead was short-lived, as Henrik Larsson scored his first goal by barely touching the ball after a mix-up in the penalty area just moments later.
Statistics England - Sweden Shots on goal 8 - 6 Total shots 14 - 9 Corners 13 - 18 Corner kicks 6 - 12 Offsides 1 - 0 Yellow cards 1 - 2 Ball possession 55% - 45% Best player of the match Joe Cole (England)
