By Tony Leighton

England coach Powell saw her side slump to defeat

Good attacking play was spoilt by some poor defending as England lost the first of two friendly internationals in quick succession against Scandinavian nations in Cyprus.

England enjoyed most of the possession against the Swedes but, despite several half-chances, created only one clear-cut opportunity.

When it arrived, however, left winger Rachel Yankey shot wide of the far post after collecting her Arsenal colleague Kelly Smith's superb 22nd minute through-ball.

At the other end striker Lotta Scehlin wasted two golden opportunities before shooting Sweden ahead with a 20-yard lob a minute before the interval.

And after squandering another good chance midway through the second half, Scehlin doubled her tally with an 18-yard shot nine minutes from time.

National coach Hope Powell said: "There were a lot of positives to be taken despite the result. I felt we were the better side over the 90 minutes and certainly should have scored.

"But although we outplayed them at times we couldn't out-muscle them, and they made their physical strength pay.

"It was a good contest though, as Thursday's against Norway will be - the perfect sort of games, against top quality opposition, to get us ready for our Euro qualifiers."

Powell's team will on Thursday meet Norway, all three sides using these games as preparation for next month's resumption of their Euro 2009 qualifying campaigns.

Ahead of England's qualifiers against Northern Ireland and the Czech Republic, Powell deliberately chose to play against much sterner opposition in her team's build-up.

Sweden are ranked third in the world, seven places higher than England, while Norway are fifth in the Fifa rankings.

England (4-4-3): Chamberlain; A. Scott (sub Handley 80), White (sub Bassett 80), Phillip, Stoney (sub Unitt 62); Asante, J. Scott (sub Aluko 40), Williams; Carney (sub S. Smith HT) (sub Johnson 69), K. Smith (sub Westwood 62), Yankey. Aluko (sub Sanderson 54).
Substitutes not used: Hawke, Sanderson.

Sweden (4-4-2): Lindahl; Paulson, Larsson, Segertstrom, Thunebro; Ostberg (Karlsson 76), Dahlkvist, Fischer (Sembrandt 76), Nordin (Nordbrandt 64); Scehlin, Landstrom (Edlund 64).
Substitutes not used: Levenstad, Rohlin, Almgren, Lundgren, Lindblom, Hammarstrom.