Whether or not Sven-Goran Eriksson reckons himself lucky in love, he certainly cannot complain about his team's fortune.

On a pitch more suited to growing swede than playing football, England spared their Scandinavian coach any 'turnip' headlines with a second-half revival that belied the poverty of their ideas in the first half.

For Eriksson, embroiled in the fall-out of his fling with Ulrika Jonsson, this 2-1 result should send up some welcoming clouds of good news to obscure any bad publicity arising from the serialisation of her autobiography.

If England had failed to win, then there would have been some serious questions asked about his tactical acumen and seeming attachment to the 50-yard pass.

After a panic-stricken first half in which Slovakia not only took the lead but made Eriksson's side look pedestrian, England abandoned their long-ball tactics, and not before time.

Slovakia's goal had been the first half in miniature - Slovakia doing simple things quite well and England doing them very badly.

Steven Gerrard was found wanting when Vladimir Janocko ran down the touchline.

Perhaps the Liverpool player thought the ball was going out, maybe even the ball actually did cross the dead-ball line. No matter - it was judged in and Attila Pinte's thumping header was swept home from close range by Szilard Nemeth after his marker Jonathan Woodgate had strayed yards away from him.

It was bad play by England all round but this had been no flash in the pan by Slovakia - only the slippery pitch had prevented Robert Vittek from scoring early on after a lovely dinked pass by Nemeth.

By contrast, England had looked so dull and lifeless, so slow, so devoid of any idea other than to aim for Michael Owen and Emile Heskey with the long ball.

It is difficult to dispute that Scholes, Beckham, Gerrard and Butt were the four best midfielders available to Eriksson. Whether they should all have played is another matter - it meant England had little width, had a dearth of players who can run with the ball, and were inclined to slow down play when it seemed imperative that they should attack with pace.

It was hardly unexpected that England's equaliser should have come from a set-play, nor that there was a slightly freakish element to it.

Beckham's free-kick was of the quality that he and few others can produce and Owen certainly played a diversionary role to deceive Slovakia's Miroslav Konig, though he surely did not get a touch as the ball swung into the net.

The best England appeared all match was when Kieron Dyer came on - finally there was someone to take the fight to the opposition. It also meant that Scholes did not have to be tied to his unfamiliar, and frankly unsuccessful, role on the left of midfield.

It was Scholes who should be credited for England's late winner, pouncing on Peter Hlinka's slip and firing in a dangerous cross. It still needed another error by Slovakia, and when Peter Dzurik failed to clear the centre up popped - who else - but Owen to nod past Konig.

''Eureka! I've done it,'' the Liverpool striker may well have exclaimed. Either that, or ''Ulrika! we've done it.'