SHIZUOKA, Japan, 22 June — England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson was left with plenty to ponder after England’s 2-1 World Cup quarterfinal defeat by Brazil yesterday.

As his players exchanged shirts and remarks with their opponents, the Swede stood studiously on the touchline before moving across to join his players’ slow farewell to their army of supporters.

Should he have been bolder? Should he have replaced a defender with a striker as soon as Brazil’s match-winning forward Ronaldinho was sent off early in the second half?

Eriksson knew that one of England’s best opportunities to beat the four-time champions had been wasted on a sultry afternoon in Shizuoka.

“We looked tired, we lost our shape and we just knocked balls in to their back three in the end,” he admitted. “We did not use the advantage we had of playing with 11 against 10.”

The Brazilians were forced to play with only 10 men for 42 minutes after Ronaldinho was shown the red card.

As always, he picked his words carefully, maintained his dignity and employed diplomacy where others may have used passion or angry frustration after seeing a 1-0 lead turn into a defeat.

“We learned a lot of course, many things and a lot of young players we have in the squad they will be better and better,” he said.

Brazil, mixing their ‘samba’ style attacking play with some pragmatic defending and gamesmanship, had secured a deserved passage to the semifinals and a meeting with Senegal or Turkey.

England, as predictable as ever in contrast to the Brazilians’ grace, fly home, leaving the World Cup with only two former champions remaining — Luis Felipe Scolari’s team and the ever-powerful Germans.

While Scolari praised his players for their fighting spirit when plunged into a rearguard battle for survival in the second half, it was almost overlooked that in a game dominated by the teamwork of two dedicated squads it was flashes of individual brilliance that decided the outcome.

England’s defense, having previously conceded only one goal in four games in the tournament, was punctured either side of halftime by the pure genius of Ronaldinho.

In first-half injury time, Ronaldinho produced a high-speed dummy that left Ashley Cole chasing his shadow and a perfect angled pass allowed Rivaldo time and space to slide a low shot beyond England goalkeeper David Seaman.

Four minutes into the second, from a free-kick 35 meters out on the right, Ronaldinho produced a swerving cross-cum-shot that caught Seaman unaware and drifted high into the net.

It may, or may not, have been a deliberate effort, but it was certainly a bad error by the goalkeeper who, at 38 and shaken up by a heavy fall, was plainly guilty of faulty positioning and a lack of concentration.

“The main thing is that I just want to say ‘sorry’ to the fans,” said the tearful Seaman afterward.

When Ronaldinho was sent off for an ill-judged tackle on Danny Mills, England were thrown a lifeline, but Eriksson, having enjoyed success with the most cautious tactical approach in the tournament, did not know how to grasp it. His team, unexpectedly, were thrown into disarray by their numerical advantage.

As the 10 Brazilians dug deep into their reserves, England’s 11 men struggled to find a way of spearing through them.

Eriksson’s substitutions, of Kieron Dyer for Trevor Sinclair, and Darius Vassell for Michael Owen, were like-for-like moves that did nothing to sharpen their cutting edge.

When Teddy Sheringham replaced Ashley Cole, a forward for a defender, there were only 11 minutes of normal time remaining. It was too late and England departed the tournament without even producing a second-half shot.

“Brazil are a very, very good football team,” said Eriksson. “They are very good at keeping the ball and when we were 2-1 down, and they had only 10 players, they did that very well. We were not patient enough.”