Well, England ddn’t won, Sweden didn’t lose, both teams qualified. What do you think they would say?

Joe COLE (ENG), Budweiser Man of the Match
Michael Owen’s injury is a big blow for us as a team. He’s had a difficult 12 months and now it looks like he has another battle on his hands. But I’ve no doubt he’ll be back scoring goals for England sooner rather than later.

We played very well in the first half and we should have killed the game. Sweden played better after half-time but still didn’t create any chances from open play. For my goal, the ball just sat up nicely – it was early on in the game and I thought I’d test the keeper. It was a great start for us.

Ecuador will be a tough game, they’ve produced two terrific performances in the group stage. Either Germany or Ecuador would have been a tough game. Now the real business starts and we can’t afford any more mistakes from set-pieces. John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Jamie Carragher are all brilliant in those situations – I’m sure it will be the last goal we concede from a set-piece.

Freddie LJUNGBERG (SWE)
At half-time, Lars Lagerback said we should control the ball more so that’s what we tried to do and it worked pretty well. Today, we scored with just a few chances while in the other games we had plenty and only scored once, so we’re improving our strike-rate. With a bit more luck, we could easily have won the game. I think Germany will be a tough opponent - (Jens) Lehmann is an exceptionally good keeper. The Germans are a tall, strong side but to be honest I haven’t checked out many of their games so far. It will be a special match and a bit sad that we have to play them so early in the tournament.

Henrik LARSSON (SWE)
I’m happy about the result and the comeback. It’s a good sign and will increase our morale. The last minutes of a game are very important for self-confidence. We scored from aerial positions which is normally England’s strong point. I scored a goal today because I was wearing my golden boots. I don’t want to think too much about the Germany game just yet. It’s important to just enjoy our result. We have a good team and a good captain so I don’t fear any opponent – not even the hosts.

Marcus ALLBACK (SWE)
I’m really happy to have scored at a World Cup and that Henrik Larsson also got a goal. It was hard without Zlatan Ibrahimovic but we did what we could. I hope Zlatan will be back soon. It’s a pity we didn’t win the group because I think it would have been better to play Ecuador rather than Germany.

Kim KALLSTROM (SWE)
We really wanted to beat England but I think it was an exciting game. It was not easy out there but performing in such matches makes you a better player. Germany will be tough but I know a lot of Swedish people have tickets so we should get plenty of support. We’re in good form and in football anything can happen.

Olof MELLBERG (SWE)
I’d have rather played against Ecuador but the best team won the group so we have to settle for that. We have to keep up the form of the second half if we are to go far.

David BECKHAM (ENG)
Losing the lead was disappointing but it seems to be the English mentality to make things more difficult than they have to be. The nation expects the team to win the World Cup – they know what we can do. There will be a positive click and it will happen soon. We feel for Michael. Losing him is devastating. The injury looks really bad and the only option now is to wait for tomorrow’s scans.

Wayne ROONEY (ENG)
I feel fine from the injury. There were no problems and I was able to keep with the pace of the game. We had a good first half but didn’t play so well after half-time. I’m not disappointed I didn’t score and I wasn’t angry when I was taken off – it’s just that I wanted to play. A draw was enough to win the group so we have to be happy. Losing Michael is a blow, of course, as he is an important player who scores goals. I think we can beat Ecuador.

Frank LAMPARD (ENG)
We started strongly first half and I thought we were going to win. We should have defended better after half-time. As for Ecuador in the next round, we’ll take whoever we get. But it’s not an easy game – there’s no such thing at the World Cup. They may have lost today but it wasn’t really representative because they had a much changed line-up. After losing once, they’ll be more determined not to lose again.

Owen HARGREAVES (ENG)
The Swedes did well. I thought we had them under control but they came back after the first goal. I’m glad we won’t play the Germans. I saw a bit of today’s game and they look strong. It’s difficult to say how easy or difficult it will be against Ecuador. If we play like we did in the first half, we can beat anyone.

John TERRY (ENG)
It was a great first half and now we know what to improve for the next match.

Rio FERDINAND (ENG)
It was a completely different game in the second half. We defended poorly but I think this is a wake-up call and we’ll avoid these mistakes in the next game. We just have to do our thing against Ecuador and we’ll get to the quarter-finals.

Source: WCoffsite