Last-gasp Chopra subdues Sweden

Sweden 2-2 England
A last-minute equaliser from Michael Chopra denied UEFA European Under-21 finalists Sweden victory in Kristianstad.

Close-range equaliser
The England striker forced the ball into the net in the final minute of added time to earn his side a draw after the home side had come from a goal down to lead 2-1.

Ashton delight
The visitors began the match brightly and took the lead on the quarter-hour as striker Dean Ashton headed in from close range after Steven Taylor had headed David Bentley's corner back into the goalmouth.

Nilsson nods in
Bentley was England's most dangerous performer, creating chances for Ashton and Michael Dawson and sending a shot from distance just over the crossbar. However, despite his promptings the home side drew level three minutes before the hour, Per Nilsson heading Tobias Hysen's free-kick into the net.

Andersson advantage
Twelve minutes later, a misunderstanding between England substitutes Lee Grant and Matthew Kilgallon left Johan Andersson with a straightforward chance to give Sweden the lead. 

Dream debut
England battled back into the match, and James Milner and Darren Ambrose both went close to an equaliser before Chopra – a matter of minutes into his U21 debut – restored parity with virtually the last kick of the game.

Lack of sharpness
"The result is something we have to accept," said Sweden coach Torbjörn Nilsson. "The English guys upped the tempo and you could clearly see that they are in the middle of their season. Give our guys seven or eight league games and I'm sure things will look even better than they did today."

'Pleased and disappointed'
"We don't get many friendlies so we had to treat this like a qualifying game, and so we would have to be pleased with a point away from home," England manager David Platt told the Football Association's website. "But there is a bit of disappointment in the dressing room that we should have won, and there is the knowledge that if you give away silly goals you could end up with nothing."