Eriksson said Owen's substitution for Stewart Downing that saw Joe Cole shifted into a central role was tactical but the switch was sharply criticised by former England captain Alan Shearer.

Shearer, now working as a pundit for Britain's BBC television, described the decision to replace Owen as "unbelievable".

"Sven brought Theo Walcott as a centre-forward but when he took Michael Owen off and put Joe Cole in Michael's place, Walcott must have been on the bench thinking: 'There's a midfielder in my position'.

"Eriksson probably doesn't think he's ready at this moment in time, but if that's the case, why take him in the first place?"

Former England coach Sir Bobby Robson also admitted to being baffled by Owen's substitution. "I assumed at first that Owen was injured when he went off ... I couldn't believe it when I discovered it was tactical," he said.

Former Scotland international Alan Hansen blasted Eriksson's tactical tinkering as 'appalling', and said England were paying for the decision not to include Tottenham's Jermain Defoe as a fifth forward.

"It all goes back to this issue of not taking Jermain Defoe," said Hansen. "If you're taking Michael Owen off it should be like for like - off goes Owen and on comes Defoe."

Defoe meanwhile has denied weekend reports that quoted him criticising Eriksson's decision to send him back to Britain.

"It's a strange one. I am still trying to understand it. It's a strange decision and everybody I speak to thinks so as well," Defoe was quoted as saying. Defoe's representatives said he had not spoken to any media, however.