England: P.Robinson, G.Neville, R.Ferdinand, J.Terry, A.Cole, D.Beckham, S.Gerrard, F.Lampard, J.Cole (O.Hargreaves 82), M.Owen (S.Downing 55), P.Crouch.

Paraguay: Villar (A.Bobadilla 7), Caniza, Gamarra, Caceres, Toledo (J.Nunez 81), Bonet (N.Cuevas 67), Acuna, Paredes, Riveros, Santa Cruz, Valdez.

Match Report

What started out as near perfection for England slumped into a depressingly familiar tale of negatively trying to hold on to what we had against surely inferior opposition, and the England manager exposed as a liability.

On a fiercely hot afternoon the game kicked off in front of a stadium almost completely full of England fans and within three minutes the stadium was buzzing from an England goal.

Joe Cole won a free kick out on the left and David Beckham went across to deliver a beast of a ball into the goalmouth. With both Owen and Terry shaping behind him Gamarra had to try and deal with it but could only flick it beyond his own keeper to hand England the lead.

The goal badly shook the South Americans and for the next ten minutes at least they were a shambles.

Michael Owen looked anything but sharp as he tried to reach a through ball but in coming outside his area to kick clear the Paraguay keeper Villar managed to hurt himself and had to be replaced. He left the field in tears and you could only feel sympathy for him, nobody wants to miss the World Cup.

Within moments his replacement, Bobadilla, was flinging himself to his left to try and gather a hurried back header from Gamarra but could not prevent the corner. It did not help settle the South Americans.

England's midfield pair Lampard and Gerrard were linking well at this stage with England totally on top but their promptings were being wasted further forward. Owen was particularly culpable when he failed to collect a lovely Gerrard pass and could only prod a meek effort at the keeper.

The erratic Mexican referee then penalised the keeper, presumably for taking too long in possession, but Lampard's shot from the free kick was blocked.

England were becoming increasingly sloppy in the final third and when an opening did look on Crouch's lack of pace was exposed as Bobadilla slid out ahead of him to clear.

Paraguay finally managed to make a couple of tentative advances and were helped by a dreadful attempted clearance by Terry which gave Paredes a shooting chance but the effort deflected wide off one of his teammates. Then Riveros forced Robinson into his first action but England's keeper was in control low down by his post.

Gerrard was booked after the ref belatedly decided he had caught Riveros in the act of shooting and Valdez joined him in the book shortly aftrewards for coming in from behind on Beckham.

There was greater concern when Gerrard went down after being caught making a clearance but he eventually carried on looking not too much the worse for wear.

Although Lampard managed to work a one two with Crouch to fire a shot just about straight at the keeper England were becoming increasingly reliant on Joe Cole to spark danger and his nimble running was posing questions whenever he received possession.

He manufactured one opening from which Owen sent a centre too high for Crouch and then he started another move that ended with Gerrard firing too high from distance.

After another splendid Cole dribble England managed centres from both wings that were above their beanpole centre forward.

There were glimpses that Paraguay might carry a threat, however. Valdez and Cruz were consistently beating the England centre halves in the air and finding space when they dropped off into the hole. There was little threat in behind the England back four though.

Beckham was able to send another free kick into the box from almost the exact spot from which the goal had come and the delivery was possibly even better than for the goal. Valdez, back in defence, managed a superb clearance, however.

Lampard wasted another opportunity with an overhit centre after a lovely header forward by Neville had released him and England's final ball continued to be lacking.

More dancing feet from Joe Cole offered Beckham a shooting chance but his attempted curler was never troubling the keeper.

The half ended in a slightly worrying fashion as England struggled to clear their lines on more than one occasion and Ashley Cole fell over to allow an attack which ended with Valdez shooting too close to Robinson's right hand post for comfort.

There was little reason to suspect it but this would set the tone for most of the second half.

Half Time: England 1 Paraguay 0

From the word go the second half was a trial from an English point of view. The Paraguayan strikers continued to find space in front of the back four to receive possession and England continued to invite pressure with poor clearances and wayward passes deep inside their own half.

Eriksson's response, ten minutes into the half, was to withdraw Michael Owen and bring on Stewart Downing, moving Joe Cole inside in the process.

What an absolute disaster. Will this man never learn? All that this meant was that England had no outlet and as a result the midfield simply retreated deeper and deeper until they were virtually indistinguishable from the back four. For half an hour we watched England holding on.

It was so much like watching the last hour of the Portugal game two years ago that it became ridiculous. Eriksson still doesn't seem to realise that we can't play that way.

The other thing this highlighted, if it wasn't already obvious, is the nonsensical nature of his squad selection. It is true that Owen had looked well short of his best. Shortly before coming off he had wasted another good chance when failing to collect an excellent ball by Beckham. But why wasn't Jermain Defoe there to replace him?

We now have to accept the fact that it is not easy for players to come back from injuries and make an impression in the World Cup. It was an obvious area where we needed cover and our manager chose not to take any.

His apparent boldness in taking Theo Walcott looks pretty suspect now. If he can't trust him at 1-0 up against Paraguay then when can he?

The question of who might now get England a goal was immediately raised as Beckham, expertly fed by Joe Cole, fired a ball across the face of the box. There wasn't an English man within spitting distance of the area.

Fortunately the Paraguayans' were not looking overly dangerous despite now having a far greater percentage of possession than they'd ever managed in the first half.

Joe Cole tested Bobadilla with a low drive after sliding in neatly to win possession but this was an increasingly rare positive moment for England.

There was a scare when Caniza broke forward to send over a cross which Robinson dealt with unconvincingly and the keeper had to fly out to try and put Paredes off his shot as the ball ran loose. Fortunately his presence was enough.

England finally put a few passes together but after Cole, Lampard and Neville had combined Crouch never looked likely to get onto the end of the centre to the near post.

Paraguay broke immediately and the lively Valdez forced his way through to drive a shot straight at Robinson from around the corner of the box. It was becoming increasingly tense.

The danger was still implied rather than tangible, however. Robinson rarely saw meaningful action although the ball was now seldom outside the England half.

Indeed Bobadilla was again the keeper called into action as he had to tip another hopeful Lampard shot over the top. At the other end a searching ball from the right back Caniza offered Valdez half a chance but his volley was snatched and flew miles over.

The last tem minutes became almost depressing as Joe Cole was replaced by Owen Hargreaves and England scratched around to try and hold on to their precarious lead.

For all the bright moments of Valdez and Santa Cruz, however, Robinson remained untested through the closing stages and Lampard ended the game by finally catching an effort clean that had Bobadilla plunging to make a smart save.

It was impossible to believe that England would have held on to their lead against anything like strong opposition, however. They had defended deeper and deeper as the second half progressed, had been forced into several unconvincing clearances and had continually given possession back to Paraguay.

Just like we always have done under Eriksson once getting in front. He has been talking more positively going into this tournament but the early signs are that he's as negative as ever when the thing actually starts.

If he doesn't change his approach we will not win the World Cup. That is cut and dried.

Full Time: England 1 Paraguay 0

England: Robinson 6, Neville 7, Ferdinand 6, Terry 6, A.Cole 5, Beckham 6, Gerrard 7, Lampard 6, J.Cole 9 (Hargreaves 3), Owen 4 (Downing 4), Crouch 5.

Paraguay: Villar n/a (Bobadilla 8), Caniza 7, Gamarra 4, Cacares 5, Toledo 6 (Nunez 4), Bonet 3 (Cuevas 7), Acuna 4, Paredes 7, Riveros 6, Santa Cruz 6, Valdez 8.

Referee: M.Rodriguez (Mexico) 4:
I didn't think he was as bad as everyone was saying but he did obviously love himself a bit, made a fuss of some petty things and was erratic at times. So not the greatest performance on reflection.

Good:
It was good to get a victory and hopefully we can move on from here. We certainly need to. Gerrard started well and looks ready to impose himself on the tournament but the undoubted star was Joe Cole. Full of good, purposeful running he terrorised the Paraguayan defence before becoming lost as a victim of Eriksson's substitutions.

Bad:
It was awful watching their keeper go off injured so early. No-one deserves to get to the World Cup and have that happen to them. For England Michael Owen's performance was a real concern. With the squad we've got we desperately need him to find some form. Quick.

Ugly:
Sven Goran Eriksson. The game was an absolute disaster on a personal level. His substitutions were baffling, negative and made us worse, again. His incredible decision not to bring another forward was exposed straight away as being absolutely insane.
How much does this guy get paid?