Australia catch England out

England 1-3 Australia
England suffered a surprising home defeat at the hands of Australia at Upton Park in tonight’s friendly international.

Youthful optimism
England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson had announced his intention to field a first-choice lineup in the first half, but said that he would change the whole team at half-time and give the young players selected in the squad their chance. The substitutes used included Wayne Rooney of Everton FC who, at 17 years and 111 days old, became England's youngest-ever international.

Strong start
The match kicked off 15 minutes late due to heavy traffic around the stadium in east London, but it was Australia who began the sharper, and Eriksson was forced to watch as his full-strength team were outplayed in the first period. Australia took the lead after 16 minutes, as Stan Lazaridis’ deep right-wing cross was headed into the net by defender Tony Popovic.

Important second
Five minutes later, Paul Scholes had a goal ruled out for England, but it was 2-0 to Australia two minutes before half-time, as Leeds United AFC's Harry Kewell showed good strength to dispossess his former team-mate Rio Ferdinand before coolly rounding England goalkeeper David James and shooting into the empty net.

Renewed hope
After England’s wholesale changes at the interval, the home side began better, and pulled a goal back after 70 minutes when good work down the right from Jermaine Jenas was rounded off by Francis Jeffers' near-post header to give England hope. However, Australia restored their two-goal cushion six minutes from time, when Feyenoord’s Brett Emerton burst clear and prodded the ball past Paul Robinson in the England goal.

Liechtenstein test
The result did not provide the morale boost to the squad that Eriksson will have been hoping for ahead of the UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying game in Liechtenstein on 29 March. England are currently second in Group 7 with four points from two games.