Rescue act by Fowler fails to mask inadequacies

England 2 Cameroon

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England running out of time and talent

In the early years of this newspaper the cricket correspondent gained notoriety for commenting of the English cricket team that there were only three things they could not do – batting, bowling and fielding. Mike Gatting's team went on to win the Ashes in Australia, the last English team to do so.

Sven Goran Eriksson's fondness for Englishness is not thought to extend to the summer game but perhaps he was hoping to similarly inspire his footballers when he said, after yesterday's disappointing draw against Cameroon: "We have to make our defending better, and our attacking better." He might have added of the midfield: "We have to get them fit".

It is not a promising platform for an assault on the World Cup but, as this match here illustrated, all three faults are linked. With an underpowered engine room England are finding it difficult to win the ball and even harder to keep it. Thus the attack is bereft of decent service and the defence frequently under pressure. In those circumstances gaining a draw against the reigning Olympic and African champions, who have been beaten once in 18 matches, was a creditable result. All the more so given the average age of the 10 starting outfielders was less than 23 years.

Twice behind, to a soft early goal from Samuel Eto'o and a free-kick by Géremi, England stuck at their task. Paul Scholes, providing a rare shaft of midfield creativity, released Darius Vassell for the first equaliser. Two minutes into injury-time Teddy Sheringham took advantage of some poor defending to set up Robbie Fowler for the second.

Eriksson had reason to be pleased with both goals. The first underlined his eye for talent. Vassell, an unexpected choice when called up in February, has three goals in five internationals and looks born to the stage. The second followed an individual pep-talk. Fowler was unsure about playing. He felt his hip injury had not healed. "The manager talked me into playing," he said. "My hip is still niggly but I knew it would only be 15 minutes and I'll be OK for Sunday."

As well as Vassell and Fowler, Owen Hargreaves, Wayne Bridge, Trevor Sinclair and Teddy Sheringham had reason to be pleased with their performances. Hargreaves, the only player to complete 90 minutes in both Asian warm-ups, again looked a player of discipline and intelligence. Perhaps England should send all their young players for coaching at Bayern Munich.

Hargreaves seems sure to start against Sweden on Sunday, the only question is where? "He can play anywhere in midfield," said Eriksson. If Nicky Butt regains fitness, but David Beckham does not, which is the most likely scenario, Hargreaves will probably play on the right flank. "He has done really well here and we would have no hesitation in playing him in Beckham's role," said Tord Grip, Eriksson's assistant. "I don't think playing him on the right would take anything from his all-round game." The player himself would like to play in the middle. As he said: "I have been trained as a central midfielder."

Two other options on the right are Joe Cole and Danny Mills, who were given a half each here. Cole looked happier when moved into the centre in the second half. Mills did not look entirely comfortable but, by making several attacking forays, at least he restricted the impressive Pierre Womé.

On the other flank Bridge again showed there is little to choose between him and Ashley Cole while Sinclair was surprisingly lively for a man who had flown to London and back in three days. A near-post header, from Hargreaves' 74th-minute corner, brought a fine save from Alioum Boukar and he later linked well with Bridge before delivering a cross which Sheringham glanced wide.

Though he might then have scored, Sheringham looked sharper than on Tuesday and his ability to quickly size a situation was underlined by Fowler's goal. Finding space to reach Wes Brown's long free-kick he cleverly headed the ball off to Fowler who, with the goalkeeper out of position, was able to loop his header inside the far post.

Cameroon had gone ahead when Womé, left unmarked and unchallenged by Brown, surprised Nigel Martyn with a cross-shot against the far post. Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell watched as Eto'o volleyed in the rebound. The Africans' second came after Gareth Southgate was harshly penalised for handball. Real Madrid's Géremi fired the free-kick in off the post.

Cameroon were good value for their lead and might have kept it had not they replaced 10 players. Lauren, playing in midfield, Womé, Marc-Vivien Foé, Eto'o and Patrick Mboma all impressed and neither Germany nor Ireland will relish playing them. Technically skilled, they moved the ball well and only a propensity to lose concentration in defence will have offered the watching Mick McCarthy any solace.

England, with one win in seven matches, now retreat to their island base of Awaji to prepare for Sweden. The encouraging news from the physio's room is that there are re-inforcements on the horizon for the midfield battlefront. Will they arrive in time? Is Eriksson a Wellington or a Custer?

Goals: Eto'o (5) 0-1; Vassell (12) 1-1; Géremi (58) 1-2; Fowler (90) 2-2.

ENGLAND (4-4-2): Martyn (Leeds United); Brown (Manchester United), Ferdinand (Leeds United), Campbell (Arsenal), Bridge (Southampton); J Cole (West Ham), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Scholes (Manchester United), Heskey (Liverpool); Vassell (Aston Villa), Owen (Liverpool). Substitutes: James (West Ham) for Martyn, 45; Keown (Arsenal) for Ferdinand), h-t; Southgate (Middlesbrough) for Campbell, h-t; Mills (Leeds United) for Scholes, h-t; Sinclair (West Ham) for Heskey, h-t; Sheringham (Tottenham), Fowler (Leeds United) for Vassell, 75.

CAMEROON (3-5-2): Alioum (Samsunspor); Kalla (Extremadura), Song (Cologne), Tchato (Montpellier); Géremi (Real Madrid), Lauren (Arsenal), Foé (Lyon), Olembé (Nantes), Womé (Bologna); Mboma (Parma), Eto'o (Real Mallorca). Substitutes: Kome (Numancia) for Olembe, 53; Mettomo (Manchester City) for Kalla, 55; Epallé (Aris Salonika) for Lauren, 58; Suffo (Numanicia) for Eto'o 58; Njanka (Strasbourg) for Womé, 61; N'Diefi (Sedan) for Mboma, 66; Ndo (Al Khaleej) for Song, 68; Djemba-Djemba (Nantes) for Foé, 73; Songo'o (Metz) for Alioum, 78.

Referee: Y Katayama (Japan).

Bookings: None.

Attendance: 36,424.

Man of the match: Womé.