Rooney left frustrated by substitution

Wayne Rooney insists he could have played longer for England but was relieved to be back in the starting line-up.

Rooney made it through 69 minutes of last night's 2-2 draw with Sweden on his first start after a broken foot.

One point was enough for England to clinch top spot in Group B and set up a first-ever international with Ecuador in the second round on Sunday in Stuttgart.

England were rocked by an injury to Michael Owen in the first minute, though. He is due to have a scan in Baden-Baden today amid fears that he has serious ligament damage.

Sven-Goran Eriksson admits the Newcastle striker's World Cup may be over but Rooney's verdict was much more promising as England head into the knock-out rounds.

Rooney said: "My fitness has never been a problem. I feel really good. I felt I could have played longer.

"It was nice to get back out there playing again. I think we did well in the first half but the tempo dropped a lot in the second.

"Not getting a goal is not a problem. That will come. We are just happy that we came out of it as group winners."

Rooney, starting his first game for more than seven weeks, seemed to be running out of steam but was not happy when he was replaced by Steven Gerrard.

He kicked a water-bottle as he came off, punched the roof of the dugout and then slung his boots away as he threw himself down on the bench.

Eriksson said: "I asked him why he did it and he said he was disappointed with himself because he thought he should have played better in the second half. It's not a problem at all.

"He could have played longer but it was his first game from the start. I couldn't risk overworking him. He will be better and better."

Joe Cole broke the deadlock with a spectacular dipping shot from 30 yards in the first half. Marcus Allback levelled soon after the break and Sweden hit the bar twice before Gerrard headed England back in front, five minutes from time.

Henrik Larsson equalised in the last minute but England hung on to win the group and avoid Germany in the next round. Sweden face the hosts in Munich on Saturday.

Eriksson said: "We did very well in the first half. We started badly in the second half and we suffered. We have to go on playing and defending better at set-pieces.

"But the most important thing is we won the group. We scored two fantastic goals but it is very annoying to concede two goals."  PA