England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will be a busy man over the next 10 days after a 1-1 draw with Japan prompted fresh doubts about his side's chances against France at Euro 2004.
England, who face Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and France's other European champions on June 13, could barely contain a modest but disciplined Japan side in Tuesday's second half.
Striker Michael Owen, who snapped up his 25th England goal after 22 minutes, was the only real bright spot in a game that begged questions over England's readiness in defence, midfield and even attack.
Eriksson had arrived with two objectives at the City of Manchester stadium; a morale-boosting victory and confirmation that Frank Lampard was a better bet than Nicky Butt in the sitting midfield role.
Neither objective was achieved. Lampard, voted the English premier league's second best player after Henry last season, showed all the attacking flair which drove Chelsea to second place in the table and earned him the chance to start ahead of Butt at the City of Manchester stadium.
But his surging runs also left England exposed at times, forcing Steven Gerrard to cover.
Butt, a naturally defensive player who had held the sitting role since the 2002 World Cup, may yet be the man who faces the French in Lisbon, particularly if his fitness improves after only a fringe role at Manchester United last season.
SLICED OPEN
England's defence showed nothing of the confidence which made it so impressive at the World Cup, despite John Terry's best attempts to make up for the suspended Rio Ferdinand.
Eriksson's rearguard was sliced wide open by the 53rd minute move which teed up Shinji Ono's equaliser, barely 10 days before Henry and club mate Robert Pires team up for more of the neat passing and shooting which won the league for Arsenal.
There was even cause for concern up front, where an increasingly frustrated Wayne Rooney, looking off the pace, swung his arm out in anger after a challenge.
Eriksson needs to use the remaining time, and particularly Saturday's final friendly against Iceland, to work on all of the deficiencies.
In their favour, England are notoriously unreliable in friendlies and revel in big occasions, such as their forthcoming tangle with the 1998 world champions.
They also have no serious injury worries, though skipper David Beckham, right back Gary Neville and Terry all suffered what were believed to be minor knocks against Japan and may be rested or taken off early on Saturday.
On current form, England would do well to earn a draw against the French, before looking to secure a quarter-final place from their subsequent Group B games against Switzerland and Croatia.
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