Sven unhappy with shaky England

He needed to make them, too. Ferdinand was somewhere around the halfway line when Milan Rapaic was allowed a free header across the face of the England goal in the 22nd minute. Fourteen minutes later James was lucky to block Marijo Maric's header with his feet and, just before the interval, he made an impressive stop from Ivica Olic's thudding 25-yard drive.

He was certainly busier than Stipe Pletikosa in the other goal. The only save he had to make in open play in the first half was from Emile Heskey's thunderous shot just before the interval.

"We didn't play well in the later stages of the first half," admitted Eriksson. "We were too stretched. We hit too many long balls. We needed to be more compact. Hopefully we'll have learned from our mistakes."

David Beckham's performance, his first for England since his £25million move to Real Madrid, provided Eriksson with some consolation. Sharp and enterprising, his work rate was inspiring and when England were awarded a penalty in the 10th minute for handball he confidently drove the ball home for his 12th goal for his country.

He then supplied the cross from which Michael Owen headed his 27th England goal before Eriksson unleashed another whirlwind of substitutions that reduced what remained of the match to the status of an irrelevant exhibition.

Once again the captaincy was handed around, and ended up with John Terry because he was the only England player who stayed on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. The Chelsea centre-half, starting an international for the first time, played a resourceful game in his role as Sol Campbell's deputy and could, in time, be the defensive figure of influence that England have missed since the retirement of Tony Adams.

Along with Terry, James and Beckham, England's other impressive performer was Frank Lampard, who is emerging as a thoroughbred in midfield.

He does, of course, come from good stock and, having learned the basics of his trade at West Ham, is now adding refinements at Chelsea.

"He did very well for us," said Eriksson. "He's getting stronger and better."

When asked if he thought Lampard might ever be in a position to consider-himself an automatic first choice he replied: "Why not if he continues to play like that?"

A 29th-minute substitute for the injured Nicky Butt, Lampard had three goalscoring opportunities and struck one with spectacular success in the 79th minute.

A rising drive, set up by the persistence of Kieron Dyer and a neat layoff from James Beattie, gave Lampard a superb goal and secured victory just two minutes after Ivica Mornar had scored to gnaw at England's confidence.

Lampard's new Chelsea team-mate Joe Cole also illuminated the match during his 31-minute cameo performance but Eriksson wasn't entirely pleased with him either. "I understand that Joe and some of the others want to show me what they can do," he said.

"But tactically he's not the best. It's nice to see him leave his position and try to beat people with five minutes left, but the most important thing when you're winning in those circumstance is not to give opportunities to your opponents."

Eriksson will stress the need for a disciplined performance in Macedonia - particularly in defence where Campbell should be available again to reinforce the back four.

"In a real game we always defend well," said Eriksson confidently. "Remember the World Cup?"