Alexandersson battles with Darius Vassell.

By John Curtis, PA Sport, Saitama

England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson insisted David Beckham's substitution was down to tiredness after the disappointing 1-1 draw with Sweden.

England's first game of the 2002 World Cup finals ended in disappointment in Saitama after Sol Campbell had headed them in front only for Everton midfielder Niclas Alexandersson to equalise.

Captain Beckham made his return to action after seven weeks out with a foot injury but was brought off in the second half.

"I didn't plan it before the match but you cannot expect him to play 90 minutes when he has not played for a long time," said Eriksson.

"I thought he did well in the first half but in the second half he got very tired.

"But the injured players we've had (Beckham and Kieron Dyer) will become fitter with every day.

"It was his first game for seven or eight weeks. It was better for the rest of the tournament."

Eriksson insisted that England had been the better side in the first half but conceded the second half belonged to the Swedes.

"We were better in the first half but they had more of the ball after that and we could not stem them.

"A draw was a fair result. We could have scored a second goal but Sweden played well."

Asked about the mistake by Danny Mills which led to Sweden's equaliser, Eriksson said: "Of course it is a pity but in football sometimes there are mistakes. It could have been different if we had scored the second goal."

The England coach added: "The next two games are very important now."

Asked if he thought England would beat Sweden for the first time in 34 years when his side led 1-0 at half-time, Eriksson replied: "We had the chance to do it but we didn't play well in the second half.

"It's the first game - we didn't win, we didn't lose and now we have to look forward with great faith and hopefully we will play for more than 45 minutes against Argentina.

"We've got Argentina on Friday and now we've got two finals (Argentina and Nigeria) if we want to go on playing in the World Cup. It will be difficult for us but difficult for Argentina as well.

"I guess 1-1 today is fair because we played better in the first half and they came out very well in the second half and created a lot of problems for us.

"In the first 35 minutes we did very well and controlled it and with a bit of luck we might have scored a second goal.

"But the game changed in the second half. They played long balls with good quality and were very strong at winning the second ball. We suffered in the second half."

Eriksson added: "It's a very difficult group with very strong teams. Sweden are not as brilliant as Argentina but they are very difficult to beat and well organised."

England had failed to beat Sweden for the 11th successive time and, asked why, co-coach Lars Lagerback said: "One reason is that we have a lot of players playing in Britain and they know the character of the players they are up against and that's an advantage for us.

"I have mixed feelings about the result because we created some good chances in the second half and with a bit of luck we could have won it.

"They didn't create many chances and we did very well in the second half."

Beckham admitted that there was a great deal of disappointment in the England dressing room after the 1-1 draw.

"A lot of the lads are down in there but there's no need to be - at end of the day we didn't lose the game.

"In the first half we played some good football and the lads are a bit disappointed (not to have won) after being 1-0 up.

"In the second half we went out a bit tired and we didn't start it as well as we should have done.

"But all credit to Sweden. They did well in the second half and David Seaman kept us in it.

"We could have ended up losing the game and it could end up being a good point for us."

Asked how he had felt in his first game back from a broken foot, Beckham replied: "In the first half I felt good but in the second half I was feeling a bit tired and my foot was aching a bit.

"The manager said 'if you get tired and you're feeling your foot a bit we will have to see what happens'.

"I feel about 90 percent. For a couple of months it is still at risking of breaking again but I am fine to play."

Beckham saluted England's supporters for their backing in Saitama, adding: "There was an amazing atmosphere from the England fans we're disappointed that we haven't got a win for them."

Arsenal striker Freddie Ljungberg, asked about the hip injury that had threatened to rule him out of the game, said: "Hopefully I can play every game but after this game I am very stiff."

On Sweden's second half revival Ljungberg said: "In the second half we got a lot more movement in our game and played better but we couldn't get a second goal after the equaliser.

"We're not happy with the way we played in the first half when England played a lot better than us."