Euro 2012: Sweden 2 England 3
BACK IN FRONT: Danny Welbeck scores for England
Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck scored a brilliant winner as England emerged victorious from a rollercoaster Euro 2012 clash with Sweden.
Andy Carroll justified his selection by heading home a fine opener from Steven Gerrard's cross after ! 23 minut es.
But Sweden roared back after the break and went ahead thanks to a quick-fire brace from former Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg.
England boss Roy Hodgson brought Theo Walcott on and he had an almost instant impact by slamming a swerving shot past former City goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson.
Walcott then turned provider for Welbeck to score with a superbly improvised finish with 12 minutes remaining. The result means England are now second in Group D with four points, behind France on goal difference.
Funny old game
Four months ago Harry Redknapp was the peoples favourite to be wearing the FA blazer in Kiev belting out the national anthem.
If good Old Arry can now be unemployed then anything can happen in football; even England could win Euro 2012 well perhaps not anything.
But the bizarre, fast-moving fortunes of football suggest many things are possible, and after the madcap events in Kiev, you cannot second guess anything these days.
When Fabio Capello quit in February, Redknapp was installed as the red hot nations choice to replace the Italian.
His cavalier, entertaining Spurs side were comfortably in third place in the Premier League and were 24 points better off than Roy Hodgsons 15th-placed West Bromwich Albion.
It was no contest despite Harrys CV lacking silverware apart from an FA Cup. Meanwhile, at the time Andy Carroll couldnt get into Liverpools starting XI for their match against United the weekend after the England vacancy came up for grabs and he was being labelled a 35m flop.
Soon Friday nightin the Ukraine capital, just 127 days on from those late winter developments, Hodgson chooses Carroll to lead the Three Lions against the Swedes.
It really is a funny old game.
While bewildered Redknapp was still trying to come to terms with his shock White Hart Lane sacking, ! the man whose appointment was greeted with a nationwide shrug of indifference was slowly attempting to patch up a desperate tournament record for England.
Weve had enthusiastic patriots with impressive playing pedigrees like Kevin Keegan and Glenn Hoddle, a cool Swede and a hard nut Italian among those delegated to end those years of hurt. It has all ended in disaster for one reason or another.
Challenge
But the conservative Londoner Hodgson, whose best playing days were as a moderate youth team player for Crystal Palace and combining non-league football with teaching jobs, has made a half-decent start to the biggie considering the short length of time hes had in front of his latest class.
OK, we are clearly not ready to challenge the Spaniards yet and there were so many worrying aspects about the see-saw group match in the Olympic Stadium but at least there is a fighting spirit that wasnt evident in South Africa at World Cup 2010.
As long as we dont get carried away by a modest heart-stopping opening to the Euros and dont get suicidal when its all over this summer, most probably without a trophy to add to that little gold one in 66, then the future might not be too bad.
The mood in the country these days doesnt seem to be one of swinging wildly from pre-competition apathy to suddenly believing therell be a Steven Gerrard statue to be sculptured to be erected outside Wembley alongside Bobby Moore.
Lets not forget the opener was a draw against a France side who didnt bring their A game to the Euros on day one. Les Bleus boss Laurent Blanc was hugely disappointed his well-fancied side were no more than ordinary in Hodgsons first competitive match in charge.
Sweden are at best an average side, who still posed so many questions that England failed miserably at times to answer.
The reality was that if we thought Bloemfontein 2010 was bad then there were aspects of th! is effor t that were more worrying and you cannot imagine them being ironed out before the end of the month.
At least when Capellos side were humiliated at the World Cup in South Africa by the new generation of Germans you felt our old enemy were heading for a golden era.
It is hard to imagine well be expecting great things of Erik Hamrens Swedish side in Brazil in two years time.
If Germany are Category A, the Swedes are probably Category C and while Joachim Lows new breed played an expansive game that was hard for most to contain, the Scandinavians play a style we know all about but should be able to combat.
And that was the most fearful aspect of the worst bits in the shenanigans in Kiev.
England surely should be able to cope with a method that was as English as Hodgson. Maybe when Hodgson gets his feet under the table with England his organisation might finally get through to his squad it certainly didnt seem to have completely got through in Kiev.
But the positives are there if not for the Euros but for the future.
Losing a lead again is a worrying trend developing but managing to overturn that during Englands powerplay shows a determination that should make for interesting times ahead.
Other positives are that Hodgson has quickly rid England of that stale look in personnel.
The choice of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain against France was a refreshing option, if not totally successful. The selection of Carroll was a welcome tactical innovation and his substitute choice last night of Theo Walcott when England were lacking vitality and belief was excellent.
And then theres the decision to give Danny Welbeck his head in the first two matches; he looks born for this kind of stage.
I hope the nation can remain as cool as he did when he brilliantly steered in the winner against Sweden it looks like it is going to be as nailbiting watching this lot as Hodgson himself seemed to fin! d it on the bench.
What is your verdict on the game? Have your say.
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