Report: Sweden 1-2 England Elite League Squad

England men’s Elite League Squad got their trip to Croatia off to a winning start on Friday by beating Sweden by 2-1 at Stadion ŠRC Sesvete.

In the first of their two games this month, Ben Futcher’s team picked up a deserved victory after a goal apiece from Will Alves and Dane Scarlett proved enough.

It didn’t take England long to break the deadlock, as Alves scored after eleven minutes to seal his return to international action after over a year out injured. Taking aim from just outside the area, the Leicester City man picked out the top corner to crash his side ahead.

Sweden weren’t without their opportunities either, with Kaelan Casey forced to clear off an effort the line before both Tim Prica and Jacob Ondrejka tried their luck with long-range efforts to lob Jed Ward from distance. Fortunately for England, neither hit the target.

But England retained the majority of the possession to keep the lead at the break before interim head coach Futcher shuffled his pack with a number of substitutions early in the second half.

And the Young Lions doubled their lead just shy of the hour mark, when captain Dane Scarlet scored from close range after shielding off a number of challenges in the box.

Deniz Gul pulled a goal back for the Swedes with a minute remaining but England were able to hold onto their lead and secure victory.

England: 1 Jed Ward (Bristol Rovers), 2 Kellen Fisher (Norwich City), 5 Ben Nelson (Leicester City), 7 Abu Kamara (Norwich City), 8 Jobe Bellingham (Sunderland), 9 Dane Scarlett (Tottenham Hotspur) ©, 10 George Earthy (West Ham United), 14 Kaelan Casey (West Ham United), 16 Noel Buck (New England Revolution), 18 William Alves (Leicester City), 23 Ben Chrisene (Aston Villa)

Substitutes: 4 Samuel Braybrooke (Leicester City) for Buck 50, 17 Martial Godo (Fulham) for Alves 50, 6 Charlie Hughes (Wigan Athletic) for Bellingham 55, 15 Bradley Hills (Norwich City) for Nelson 55, 3 Archie Brown (K.A.A. Gent) for Casey 55, 21 Alex Matos (Chelsea) for Chrisene 55, 20 Romain Esse (Millwall) for Fisher 65, 19 Bailey-Tye Cadamarteri (Sheffield Wednesday) for Earthy 65, 12 Roman Dixon (Everton) for Scarlett 65, 11 Benico Baker-Boaiter (Brighton & Hove Albion) for Kamara 65

Substitutes not used: 13 Tommy Simkin (Stoke City), 22 Tommy Setford (Ajax), 23 Ben Cisse (West Bromwich Albion)

Interim head coach: Ben Futcher

Goals: William Alves 11, Dane Scarlett 59