Sweden Matches England, 2-2
Joe Cole was shredding Sweden’s defense so effortlessly he had confident England fans singing “God Save the Queen” before halftime.
Not so fast. The Swedes have been flustering England for nearly 40 years now, and this game, in Cologne, Germany, would be no different.
Henrik Larsson scored off a throw-in, getting the slightest touch to deflect the ball into the net in the 90th minute and salvage a 2-2 tie for the Swedes on Tuesday. England hasn’t beaten Sweden since 1968, a streak that is now at 12 games.
There is one big bright spot for England, though. It still won Group B, which means it gets Ecuador and an extra day of rest for the second round, playing Sunday in Stuttgart.
And Sweden, as the runner-up, will have to play three-time champion and World Cup host Germany in Munich in the second round Saturday.
Cole scored on a 30-yard shot in the 34th minute, then set up Steven Gerrard’s go-ahead goal in the 85th for England. But the English couldn’t put away the Swedes, a problem that has lasted nearly four decades.
Marcus Allback had tied it, 1-1, for the Swedes on a header in the 51st minute.
Though England arrived in Cologne with an eight-game winning streak, it hadn’t played anywhere close to its best in Germany. But it seemed to get a spark from Wayne Rooney’s return to the starting lineup and Cole’s dazzling play.
Even losing Michael Owen in the fourth minute to a nasty-looking right knee injury didn’t seem to throw England. Owen, who only recently recovered from a broken foot, was carried off the field on a stretcher and will be examined today.
Paraguay 2, Trinidad and Tobago 0 -- Brent Sancho headed a ball past his own goalkeeper in the 25th minute in Kaiserslautern, and Trinidad and Tobago never recovered, losing a game it needed to win to have any chance at advancing to the second round.
Trinidad came into its final first-round match with slim hopes of advancing, needing a win against already eliminated Paraguay, an England win over Sweden and help on goal differential. The Soca Warriors were unable to do their part and the rest did not matter.
Nelson Cuevas broke free on a counterattack in the 86th minute to score Paraguay’s second goal.
Paraguay was playing for pride in the final match. It never recovered after losing its opener, 1-0, to England on an early own-goal by Carlos Gamarra. It then lost, 1-0, to Sweden in the closing minutes.
Poland 2, Costa Rica 1 -- Bartosz Bosacki scored twice to lead Poland in a Group A game in Hanover between two teams already eliminated from the tournament.
Poland, which lost its first two games, also won its last game at the 2002 World Cup, when it beat the United States, 3-1, in South Korea after losing its first two group games.
The winner against Costa Rica came in the 66th minute, when Bosacki rose above Paulo Wanchope to powerfully head Jacek Krzynowek’s corner kick into the goal.
