NEWCASTLE United striker Michael Owen's World Cup campaign appeared to be over last night as England failed to end a 38-year winless run against Sweden.

The 2-2 draw means England top their group and so avoid Germany in the last 16, booking a Sunday game in Stuttgart against Equador.

But last night's match was marred by a first-minute injury to Owen.

He collapsed in agony with what appeared to be a right knee injury and was replaced by Peter Crouch.

A scan today will discover the extent of the injury, but it appears to be the end of Owen's campaign.

Goals from Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard were cancelled out by Marcus Allback and a late goal from former Celtic star Henrik Larsson.

England head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said: "We won the group and that is what we wanted to do."

Commenting on Owen's injury, he added: "It doesn't look good at all."

Meanwhile, Niall Quinn's proposed takeover at Sunderland Football Club took a step forward last night when it emerged that an "exclusivity agreement" between the two parties had been extended by another ten days.

There are genuine hopes from both sides that an offer, believed to be worth between £15m and 20m, will be accepted by chairman Bob Murray before the end of the week or, at the latest, early next.

During that time Mr Murray, who is due to step down from his position on June 30, and his board will not be entering into negotiations with any other prospective buyer. The only debate appears to be the price for Murray's 56.8 per cent majority stake.

Mr Quinn's consortium is willing to take on the club's debts of about £40m and is determined to reach agreement with Mr Murray.

A statement released by Sunderland last night said they were encouraged by talks between Mr Murray and Mr Quinn at a North Yorkshire restaurant on Monday.

ä Match report - Back Pag