Well England certainly don't do things the easy way. But ultimately, their 3-2 win against Sweden in Kiev had plenty of positives and leaves England fans in buoyant mood, for now at least.
The two key decisions that manager Roy Hodgson made of starting Andy Carroll and then bringing on Theo Walcott when England had gone 2-1 down were inspired. Before the game, many pundits and fans were surprised that Carroll would start against the Swedes, replacing the lively Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from the first game against France. But Carroll lead the line well and scored the opening goal after 23 minutes, heading in a sublime cross from his Liverpool team mate Steven Gerrard.
Walcott's influence from the bench could not have been better. Four minutes after coming on, he scored from the edge of the box as Sweden failed to clear a corner to equalise and then set up the winner as he ran at the tiring defence, crossing for Danny Welbeck who finished sublimely with a back heel.
However, one negative to pick from the game would be the way England collapsed at the start of the second half, conceding twice from set pieces. Firstly, England failed to clear properly from a Zlatan Ibrahimovic free kick and Olof Mellberg prodded home despite the best efforts of Glen Johnson to clear the ball off the line. Then from a Sebastien Larsson free kick Mellberg once again scored, heading home unmarked to give Sweden the lead. Although England went on to win the game, teams stronger than Sweden would have punished their sloppyness and not allowed England back into the game.
The positives certainly outweigh the negatives though as England now only need a point in their final game against Ukraine to qualify for the quarter finals on Tuesday. The FA's decision to appoint Hodgson and not Harry Redknapp who many were hoping for appears to be vindicated.
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