Football United

Michael Owen claimed his 25th goal for his country but Asian champions Japan held UEFA EURO 2004™ contenders England in Manchester.

Lampard starts
Sven-Göran Eriksson started with what he had stated would be his first-choice side, Chelsea FC's Frank Lampard taking over the holding role from Nicky Butt in a diamond-formation midfield. They looked bright early on and Owen put England ahead but Feyenoord's Shinji Ono levelled the scores in the second half.

Terry chance
Japan had beaten Iceland 3-2 at the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday to kick-off this three-team tournament, but England began with enthusiasm and John Terry had a fourth-minute header cleared off the line after goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki could only parry.

Owen goal
However, on 22 minutes Narazaki could not hold Steven Gerrard's long shot and Liverpool FC team-mate Owen followed up to take him one strike closer to Sir Bobby Charlton's record England goals tally of 49.

James saves
Keiji Tamada and Shumsuke Nakamura both forced David James to save with long-range efforts, and Tsuneyasu Miyamoto headed wide from a corner. Ashley Cole then had to be alert when Tamada shot on goal on the counterattack.

Japan level
However, Japan kept their pressure up after the break and within eight minutes Alex cut back into the path of Ono for the midfield player to shoot in. Nakamura then shot wide, but the game ended level and England need to beat Iceland by two goals here on Saturday to win the tournament outright.

Beckham 'fine'
After the game, England captain David Beckham revealed that he had a minor injury problem, but is unlikely to be a doubt for the EURO 2004™ opener against holders France on 13 June. "I got a kick on the ankle towards the end of the season and it happened again," he said. "It has meant I have not trained properly for ten days or so but I will be fine for the France match, no question."

source: uefa.com