February 9 2005

Andy Johnson

Sven-Goran Eriksson justified his decision to play Andy Johnson out of position on his England debut.

Johnson came on for WAYNE Rooney in the 61st minute for his first England cap but Eriksson played the striker on the right wing.

Eriksson said: "I know he's better in the centre, but we decided to stick with the system we started with.

"He was OK. He was very happy to be picked and play his first game.

"I talked to him. We could have changed to 4-4-2 and took him inside, but I preferred to stay with our formation."

Gabor Kiraly and Sandor Torghelle couldn't stop Hungary going down to a 2-0 defeat to Wales, at the Millennium Stadium.

Aki Riihilahti and Joonas Koolka helped Finland to a 2-1 friendly win over Latvia, in Cyprus, on Tuesday night.

WAYNE ROUTLEDGE played 70 minutes of England U21s' 2-1 defeat at the hands of Holland on Tuesday night. Ben Watson was an unused substitute.

Gary Borrowdale was in action for England U20s' 2-0 win over Russia at the Valley, also on Tuesday evening.