England fans will be concerned about their team's weak attack. A headed own goal after only four minutes from Paraguay captain Carlos Gamarra settled the encounter, but it was far from the convincing display that England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson had been hoping for.

"We suffered a lot," Eriksson told BBC television. "This was the first real hot, hot day and that knocked us a bit in the second half. The most important thing was to get three points today and we got them. It was a good start."

Despite dominating the Paraguayans for long periods at the sun-baked Waldstadion in Frankfurt, England lacked a cutting edge up front throughout, with strikers Peter Crouch and Michael Owen struggling to get on target.

Eriksson however will be content to have improved England's dismal record of having won only one opening match of a major tournament in the past 20 years, knowing that a victory over minnows Trinidad and Tobago in Nuremberg next Thursday will put them into the next round. Yet the return to match fitness of Manchester United star Wayne Rooney clearly cannot come soon enough for England, who failed to build on the dream start handed to them by Gamarra's own goal.

Once again the goal came via England captain David Beckham's right boot, the Real Madrid star sending a wicked inswinging free-kick into the box that Gamarra glanced past goalkeeper Justo Villar. A disastrous opening for Paraguay got worse only a few minutes later when Villar limped off with what looked like an injury to his right leg.

England, with Steven Gerrard outstanding in central midfield after recovering from a pre-match injury scare, threatened to run riot early on against a Paraguayan side that seemed paralyzed by nerves. Paraguay's best chance came in the closing minutes of the half when Werder Bremen's Nelson Valdez lashed a shot just wide of the right-hand post as Paraguay capitalized on a slip by England left-back Ashley Cole.