WHEN the end came, there was just an acknowledgement of victory, a business-like shake of the hand and a brisk walk down the tunnel.

No hint or joy at the completion of a task, or acknowledgement of the terror brought on by the prospect of a Liverpool-like comeback from Sweden.

To Stuart Pearce it was just like a normal day. To everyone else, it was the day when the Three Lions finally roared.

Frank Skinner and David Baddiel sang about 30 years of hurt at Euro96.

In the end, the only hurt England managed to end was the personal torment of Pearce, who slammed home a penalty in the quarter-final shoot-out against Spain and followed up with the wild eye-bulging celebration of a man who six years previously walked away in tears for his failure in a World Cup semi-final defeat by Germany.

But the pain of semi-final defeats only increased as Germany won again. The familiar chill down the back was experienced again two years ago when Pearce's England Under-21 side lost a marathon against Holland.

So how much relief must there have been inside Pearce's body as the final fateful Swedish spot-kick rolled against the post? How much reason for delight among football fans so used to failure?

If you are German, or Italian for that matter, with all those World Cups and European Championships - Italy have five more wins in this competition to fall back on - an Under-21 European Championship final is no big deal.

But, for all Pearce's reaction, if you are England, it is.

Forget about that solitary World Cup in 1966, still the only final England have contested at the highest level.

Forget about Geoff Hurst, Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles' dance of delight.

Success

Think more about Mark Hateley, Mel Sterland and Howard Gayle. For they were the goalscorers when England last enjoyed any success at Under-21 level.

You could say it has been a long time between drinks.

But Pearce, whose coaching skills are arguably more suited to the international scene when he works with the best he has than the club scene where he has to decide whether to risk his entire transfer budget on Giorgios Samaras, has guided them back to the brink.

Tomorrow night in Malmo, we will find whether England can deliver.

It's hard to know whether a repeat of this switchback journey is required or anything but. And it all looked so easy an hour before.

Martin Crainie did not just score a goal in the first minute. He highlighted an un-Swedish like weakness for defending set-pieces.

With James Milner showing the precision David Beckham brings to the senior squad, England could not be repelled.

Nedum Onuoha steered home a second, Lee Cattermole forced a third off Mattias Bjarsmyr. Three set-pieces, three goals. Simple as can be.

In fact, the only thing that went wrong in that first half for Pearce was the booking picked up by Gabriel Agbonlahor, which means the Aston Villa man will miss the final.

Pearce was on the field in Turin the night Paul Gascoigne suffered something similar, and cried his way to the shoot-out which was to prove so heartbreaking for England and their tough-tackling full-back.

Agbonlahor did not react in the same way. England, it seemed, were through.

However, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory does take a bit of effort. It was almost as if Pearce had taken all 11 players off and put on a completely different side who had never met each other before.

The assuredness and confidence that allowed England to take a three-goal lead, with which they exposed what should have been a fatal flaw in the Sweden defence, was suddenly absent. The desire to attack gone. The capability to play disappearing almost by the second.

Nervously, England watched each second tick by. So near, so near. Yet so very far away.

Marcus Berg scored one goal, Ola Toivonen another. Then Berg scored again. If Berg had completed his hat-trick rather than guide his extra-time header against the bar, the Three Lions could have had no complaints.

This time, penalties brought joy unconfined, except for Agbonlahor, Frazier Campbell and shoot-out hero Joe Hart, whose bravado saw him score from the spot, but also pick up a yellow card that means he misses out in Malmo.

England have exorcised a ghost. Now they must deliver the prize.