England vs. Sweden: Rating All the England Players

England defeated Sweden 1-0 on Tuesday in an international friendly. It was a result that had significance for a number of reasons.

First, England scored their 2,000th goal. At first, it was ruled a goal for England's Gareth Barry. But it was later correctly awarded to Sweden defender Daniel Majstorovic.

Second, England beat Sweden for the first time since 1968, a run of 12 matches.

Finally, England gave itself momentum heading into the Euro 2012 draw, which will be held in just over two weeks. With two wins in their last two matches, England kept two straight clean sheets and finished the calendar year unbeaten.

Kyle Walker was named England's man of the match by the Wembley public address announcer. Who did we pick?

Read on to find out.

Goalkeepers

Joe Hart: 6.0

Hart didn't have much to do against a Sweden attack that created few chances. As usual, though, he provided a steady, comforting presence between the posts.

Scott Carson: 6.0

Yes, really. Carson replaced Hart at halftime and looked fine. He didn't make any blunders, and though he appeared to struggle with Sebastian Larsson's twisting cross late in the second half, he made a fine play to keep the ball out of the England net.

Defenders

John Terry: 6.5

You wouldn't know it by watching him play, but Terry is involved in quite the controversy right now. With the racism row still going on, several pundits are calling for him to surrender the armband. We won't comment on that here, but we will say this: As a player, Terry is outstanding for England.

Against Sweden, he was characteristically strong in the air and steady throughout.

Gary Cahill: 6.5

Same for Cahill, minus all the controversy. It's only a matter of time before he leaves Bolton for a bigger, more ambitious club.

Leighton Baines: 7.0

Baines excelled at left-back. It's hard to see him moving ahead of Ashley Cole in the pecking order, but he could definitely serve as an able backup next summer.

Kyle Walker: 8.0 (Man of the Match)

Walker's performance was impressive. He was a menace going forward, combining well repeatedly with Theo Walcott (how about that for Spurs-Arsenal relations?).

He also defended strongly. The only time anyone got free on his right side came in stoppage time, when Christian Wilhelmsson blasted his volley wide from an unmarked position.

Midfielders

Phil Jones: 7.0

The Jones-as-a-midfielder experiment is working. Jones stifled just about every move Sweden tried to push through the center of the park. He also distributed efficiently and even got into the attack, nearly scoring after a burst from the midfield into the Sweden box.

Gareth Barry: 6.5

He won't get credit for the goal, but Barry did put himself in the right position to get it. The rest of his day wasn't quite as glorious, but he did hold down the midfield admirably.

Stewart Downing: 7.5

Downing supplied the cross for the winning goal, but that's only one chapter of the story. He owned the left flank all night, beating Swedish defenders with speed and playing dangerous crosses into the box time after time. He was England's most consistently dangerous player in the second half.

Now, can he keep it up?

Theo Walcott: 7.0

Walcott was England's most dangerous man in the first half. He burned Sweden repeatedly on the right side, using his superior dribbling skills to great effect. He was really in the mood early as he combined with Walker and Bobby Zamora to create good chances. He wasn't nearly as effective in the second half, though, and he was subbed out early.

James Milner: 6.0

Milner replaced Jack Rodwell in the 58th minute and joined the midfield. He supplied a nice cross late in the second half that almost found the head of Darren Bent.

Forwards

Bobby Zamora: 6.5

Zamora held up play well, distributed and got into dangerous positions. Now he just needs to score.

Jack Rodwell: 6.5

Rodwell found himself in dangerous spots throughout his time on the pitch. How he missed that header in the first half only he will ever know. It was a pretty solid full debut, though.

Darren Bent: 5.5

Bent struggled to see much of the ball and didn't have much impact on the game after he replaced Zamora in the 70th minute.

Daniel Sturridge: 5.5

Sturridge got his first England cap and had a good run-out after replacing Walcott early in the second half.