England still aren't playing beautiful football, but they're looking quite a bit more ambitious than they were against France and they've certainly been effective. They lead Sweden 1-0 at halftime, and that score's a fairly accurate reflection of play. It's been even, but England are defending well and looked a tad bit more dangerous, even outside of the chance they created for the goal.
That goal came in the 24th minute in the best way possible, for those who like storylines and schadenfreude. Andy Carroll, who came in for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in a shift to a 4-4-2 formation, nodded in the goal off of a lofted diagonal ball by Steven Gerrard. The pair still haven't found much chemistry in Liverpool shirts, but they connected beautifully in England shirts for the goal, with Carroll splitting the defense before he rose up and powered a header into the back of the net.
Sweden haven't been bad, but they're looking just like they were in the first match against Ukraine. Decent going forward, but lacking some bite. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been solid, but certainly not spectacular. Johan Elmander came in for Markus Rosenberg and hasn't made much of a difference thus far. Joe Hart has been forced into three saves, but hasn't been terribly bothered. England look like they're in control, and Sweden are going to need something special to turn this match around.
We have live coverage of the game in our Sweden vs. England, Euro 2012 StoryStream. For more on Euro 2012 and the entire world of football, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.
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