Goteborg, Sweden -- A Beckham-less England squad failed to grant head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson the gift of grabbing a win in his homeland, falling 1-0 to Sweden in international friendly action Wednesday.

"Psychologically, it was important that we scored the goal," said Sweden coach Lars Lagerback. "Then the players could relax but try to control the match. England also missed some good players."

With skipper David Beckham and deputy-captain Michael Owen both missing through injury, Eriksson handed the armband to 23-year-old Steven Gerrard, who led the team into Stockholm.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic tallied the match-winner less than 10 minutes out from the intermission, netting the lone goal in the 54th minute for the Swedes.

The Ajax striker flicked home Kim Kallstrom's cross in behind 'keeper David James as Sweden is now unbeaten in 11 matches against England dating back to 1968.

Despite the loss, Eriksson heralded some of his younger call-ups.

"It was good to see some new players on the pitch and of course you have to evaluate them for the future," Eriksson said on Sky Sports.

Eriksson added: "In the first half we played well, but there's not much to say about the second half. They were physically stronger than us in the second half...they could have scored a second goal as well.

"I know the caliber of the players we were missing today.

"We need Michael Owen at the European championships. If we don't have Owen or Rooney at the European championships, then I might start to worry."

England's squad was especially depleted Wednesday with Ashley Cole and Kieron Dyer also unavailable for the match as they battle injuries.

The loss was the first for the English in Gerrard's 22 appearances for the squad (16-1-5).

In further action on the day, Germany pummeled Belgium with goals from Kevin Kuranyi (45th), Dietmar Hamann (55th) and Michael Ballack (81st). The victory marked the Germans' second of the year after turning in a 2-1 triumph over Croatia back in February.

"It was a really good game from us," Germany coach Rudi Voeller said. "The scoreline says it all.

"We played well at the back and did not give Belgium many chances. We had a few problems in the first 20 minutes but after that we were clearly in control and combined extremely well at times."

Belgium, who have failed to qualify for the Euro 2004 tournament starting on June 12 in Portugal, were missing several key players through injury and showed little initiative.

"It was a deserved victory for Germany," said Belgium coach Aime Anthuenis. "I can't reproach my players. They did what they could."

Robbie Keane's stoppage-time goal served to end the Czech Republic's 20-match unbeaten run which had dated back to November of 2001 as Ireland bested the Czechs 2-1.

The streak had been the longest in the game to date.

Keane's goal, a 92nd-minute finish, was his 19th international strike for Ireland. Ian Harte netted Ireland's first goal in the 52nd minute with Milan Baros tallying for the Czechs in the 81st minute.

Meanwhile, defending European champions France, who are set to campaign for their second continental title this summer, were held to a scoreless draw by the Netherlands.

Both sides were missing a handful of key players for the match in Rotterdam. The French were sans Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, Steve Marlet and Zinedine Zidane, while the Dutch were without Jaap Stam, Clarence Seedorf and Frank de Boer.

The stalemate ended France's run of 15 successive victories.

Elsewhere, Italy skated past Portugal 2-1 with goals from Christian Vieri in the 39th minute and Fabrizio Miccoli 15 minutes from time. Nuno Valente netted the lone goal for this summer's EURO 2004 hosts, tallying in the fifth minute.

Fernando Morientes and Raul each netted a goal as Spain blanked Denmark 2-0 in Gijón.