Head over heels: Ashley Young falls down in a challenge with Anders Svensson

But Hodgson has made England a difficult team to beat and the fact they fought back to win this game will encourage the new manager enormously when he knows Wayne Rooney can then add that bit of quality they are still missing when they have the ball.

Sweden, as Gerrard said, were not France. They were worse than England, defending as deep in the first half as England had defended against the French.

But England did not have enough about them to turn the possession they had in the opening 45 minutes into a commanding lead and that is where they need Rooney to  come in.

In cooler, evening temperatures — by the time this game kicked off, 15 minutes later than scheduled because of events in Donetsk — it was 64 degrees. Perfect for the more aggressive tactics Hodgson wanted to employ.

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