It's South Park

Sven Goran-Eriksson's men were held to a 1-1 draw by the South Koreans on the honeymoon island paradise of Jeju, where England went from best men to wallflowers either side of half-time as Park Ji-Sung levelled.

England had taken the lead through skipper Michael Owen shortly after the mid-point of the first half during which an exuberant 4-3-3 line-up - led fearlessly by Bayern Munich's Owen Hargreaves - dominated.

But come a sweeping number of changes for the start of the second half and England's supremacy waned alarmingly.

The hosts levelled through Park Ji-Sung and - buoyed by the return to parity - South Korea not only frustrated Sven's men but ensured they never had another genuine attempt at goal.

At least the precocious Hargreaves demonstrated how he could prove an ideal straight swap for the stricken Steven Gerrard as the Liverpool midfielder recovers from a groin operation back in England.

There must have been a huge sigh of relief when Hargreaves recovered from a hefty knock suffered in the dying stages of a game watched by a fanatical near 40,000-strong crowd.

Besides Hargreaves, there was yet another canny cameo performance from West Ham's Joe Cole. He was the one second half change that provided the necessary pep and urgency to try to prolong the excellence of the first 45 minutes.

In that spell Hargreaves was particularly sharp in central midfield in what was his first full outing in his more preferred position.

After four minutes a surge took him past two challenges before teeing up Owen, who had strayed offside. Ten minutes later Hargreaves freed the England skipper with an exquisite first-time through pass only for Owen to miscue his attempted chip, the South Koreans clearing in haste as the lively Darius Vassell closed in.

It did not take long for Owen to pilfer his 16th goal in an England shirt.

He and Liverpool team-mate Emile Heskey combined on the edge of the area just as Paul Scholes sprinted beyond the front-line. Accepting Heskey's pass Scholes' first-time shot was blocked by the Korean 'keeper but Owen slid in to force the ball over the line.

England's first half formation yielded distinct promise. With Hargreaves at the hub of the midfield core Scholes and Danny Murphy were able to supplement the attack. When the hosts managed any possession Vassell and Heskey dropped back to further reinforce the midfield leaving the England defence largely untroubled.

Leeds United goalkeeper Nigel Martyn was only once extended some seven minutes from half-time when he tipped over a venomous 30-yard drive from home skipper Hong Myung Bo.

Opting for a major shuffle coach Goran-Eriksson rung the changes at half-time with only four players - Danny Mills, who was solid throughout, Hargreaves, Vassell and Heskey - surviving into the second half.

The previous rhythm and fluency evaporated and England paid the price at a corner seven minutes in when Martin Keown and Teddy Sheringham were both beaten to headers, the second nodded past Martyn's replacement, David James, by Park Ji-Sung.

Cole drew screams of admiration from the crowd as he nearly found Hammers' team-mate Trevor Sinclair with an audacious display of trickery. But that apart, there was little to cheer for England as fringe candidates such as Sinclair, Wes Brown, Teddy Sheringham and Wayne Bridge failed to press their claims ahead of Sunday's final warm-up game against Cameroon in the Japanese city of Kobe.

Updated: 15:15 Tuesday, May 21, 2002