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English XI end 43-year jinx against Swedes

Comment: 0 November 16th, 2011 by: admin

THE long, long wait is over for England, at least against Sweden.

After 43 years of trying how to untangle a mystery like the Swedes, the Three Lions finally found the answer via a 1-0 win in their friendly on Tuesday night at Wembley.

Their 2,000^th goal all but ensured Fabio Capello’s side would end 2011 without defeat and bursting with confidence as they gird for their Euro 2012 campaign.

Midfielder Garreth Barry took credit for scoring the landmark goal although replays showed his header from a Stewart Downing cross deflected off  Sweden centre-half Daniel Majstorovic’s head before crossing the line.

England coach Fabio Capello was elated after the fixture as his squad completed a brilliant followup to their 1-0 downing of Spain last Saturday. “It was a testing game really because after 43 years we finally beat Sweden.

Moreover, Capello continued his experiment to test his young players by making eight changes from the said that stunned the reigning world champions. “It is statistics. It will be more important what happens at the Euros.’’

Capello added he learned a lot from his latest ventures as he brimmed with confidence that his young wards would deliver in the future.

Bobby Zamora and Jack Rodwell had their first England starts, while Phil Jones and Theo Walcott also featured.

Sweden midfielder Kim Kallstrom said he was impressed by England’s performance. “They’re very strong physically. Our biggest problem was with their crosses. The only thing missing for us was a goal, even though they also had a couple of good chances they missed.’’

Capello was equally happy for the fact that they made a lot of chances to score. “But I think we need to improve from it because when you’ve got the ball possession you need to move it a lot quicker.’’

It marked the second successive match that England played without Wayne Rooney as Capello tested Zamora and Darren Bent as among his options in the attack line in preparation for the group stages of the Euro 2012 sans the star player.

Meanwhile, the UEFA announced on Tuesday that Rooney’s appeal against his three-match international ban will be heard on Dec. 9.

The England-Sweden tussle at the 90,000-capacity Wembley was attended by just 48,876 fans, the lowest for an England game since the rebuilt venue opened in 2007.

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