Eriksson shows England the key to control

Kevin Keegan once pointed out, to England players disgruntled with their press: "You write the headlines." It has taken his Swedish successor, however, to prompt performances of sufficient literacy to produce the type of notices players paste in their scrapbooks.

While it would be wise not to get carried away by victory over a team of moderate ability and limited ambition, England's World Cup victory over Greece on Wednesday night was achieved with a polish rarely associated with the national side. There was a patience and composure about England which suggested they are a long way down the road to playing grown-up football.

"They don't stir me," complained one spectator, a man who has spent his career in sport on both sides of the fence. It was a fair comment, though he had not witnessed the thrilling first half-hour against Mexico. But while Keegan would have been hurt by such an observation, Eriksson will shrug it off. He is not in office to set the pulse racing, he is there to produce victories. Achieve enough of those and he knows that, given the nature of the players at his disposal, from Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand, through David Beckham and Paul Scholes to Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler, the excitement will follow. For now the emphasis is on controlling matches, a difficult art for players weaned on the thud-and-blunder Premiership. It was no coincidence, admitted Sven Goran Eriksson, that all 14 players involved on Wednesday had reached European quarter-finals at least during their club campaigns.

"The result pleased me most," the England coach said yesterday, "but I was also very pleased with the patience the team showed. They waited rather than give opportunities to Greece. Internationally it is important to play like that. Greece had the ball a lot in the first half but we did not give them the chance to do anything with it.

"To try for 90 minutes to win the ball early against technically good teams away from home is extremely hard work and very risky. We had talked about it. I said I do not want two attackers up there chasing the ball and the rest of the team 20 metres behind, there is no meaning to that."

England, a natural serve-and-volley team, thus bided their time when Greece had the ball, waiting for them to make the mistake like a baseliner on a clay court. Would that Tim Henman could learn new tricks as quickly.

The change in mood is reflected off the pitch. Yesterday's revelation that five Northern Ireland players were in a Czech jail following a nightclub incident was an unhappy reminder of the headlines England players have generated in the past. The solution adopted by recent managers was to put the team into purdah. One source close to the squad said that players had once "dreaded" joining up, so restrictive was the lifestyle.

In Athens, however, players were trusted. If they wanted to have a look at the city they could, just as in La Manga they had been encouraged to mingle with holiday-makers. Treated like adults the players have behaved, and played, like them.

A spin-off has been an improvement in on-pitch discipline, highlighted by Beckham's mature response to several heavy challenges from opponents and the missile-throwing antics of the home supporters. In addition, this was the first season in four England campaigns not to be disfigured by a dismissal and only one player, Andy Cole, received a suspension-invoking two bookings.

Cole will be available for the next qualifying tie, the critical one in Germany, but is unlikely to win his place back. Fowler, excellent on Wednesday, should be retained unless, as has happened in previous summers, he lets his fitness slide. England will hope that his impending nuptials keep him in trim.

Assuming he remains with Liverpool, his pre-season begins in Switzerland then heads, like Manchester United's, to the Far East. There he may find, amid the teeming fake-replica-shirted masses, Eriksson.

"I am now going on holiday," said the England coach. "Then at the beginning of July, when the Premiership clubs start again, Tord [Grip, his assistant] and I are going to see as many friendly games as possible; in England, Sweden or wherever. This is because we have to pick a new squad [for the match against the Netherlands on 15 August] before the Premiership starts [on 18 August]."

Some of the players ruled out of the Greece match by injury ­ Sol Campbell, Nick Barmby, Kieron Dyer, Wes Brown and Gary Neville ­ may also be available, but it is hard to see many changes. Continuity is another Eriksson trait. Emile Heskey, he said, was chosen ahead of Steve McManaman on Wednesday partly because of his height, especially since Fowler and Owen were the front two, partly because of his power, and partly because "the team that played against Mexico deserved to start the match again".

An England victory over Germany, if followed by probable home wins for both sides in their remaining matches (Germany v Finland; England v Albania and Greece), would leave the group to be decided by goal difference. Should that be level, "goals scored" would be the criterion, then head-to-head results. If the teams could still not be split a play-off at a neutral venue would be required.

That would be quite an occasion, but the likelihood remains that England will face a play-off against another runner-up. The most dangerous opponents may be the Group Two runners-up (Republic of Ireland, Portugal or the Netherlands) but Romania, the Czech Republic and Scotland also lurk in the shallows. There is also a one-in-nine chance of being drawn against an Asian side which could pit England against one of 10 countries including Iran, Iraq, China, Uzbekistan or Thailand. Since the Thais are coached by an Englishman, Peter Withe, that match-up would be an ironic conclusion to Eriksson's qualifying campaign.