England played their last hour of World Cup football without either of their first-choice strike pairing or the captain whose free kicks had earned their opening victory over Paraguay and a second-round win over Ecuador.

Michael Owen, who had played only once for Newcastle United since breaking his foot on December 31, ruptured a cruciate ligament in their final Group B draw with Sweden.

His absence effectively left Eriksson with only one other striker to call on, Peter Crouch.

That led to the 4-5-1 formation with which England struggled to land a killer blow up front, particularly with the usually goal-happy Frank Lampard having a poor tournament, summed up his shootout miss.

When he named his squad on May 8, Eriksson described untried teenager Theo Walcott as a gamble. It clearly did not come off as the 17-year-old never played in Germany.

Rooney's broken foot, sustained in April 29, overshadowed England's preparations and his gradual return in the group stages had looked promising.

But his frustration at not making the impact he wanted at these finals, in part due to playing as a lone striker, seemed to boil over as he clashed with Ricardo Carvalho.

Injuries, which had also blighted England's last World Cup, robbed Eriksson of the ideal team he had long planned to unleash at this tournament.

With Rooney and Owen at the top of their game things might well have turned out very differently for England. In the event, it was all too familiar.