Crucial double strike

Swedish goal scorer Marcus Allback of Aston Villa (C) celebrates with team mates Anders Svensson of Southampton (L, scorer of the first goal) and Mattias Jonson (R) his 2-0 goal during the European Championship Group 4 qualifying soccer match between Sweden and Poland at Raasunda Stadium in Stockholm, Sweden, 11 June 2003. AFP PHOTO / PRESSENS BILD / JESSICA GOW

Marcus Allback scored five goals in seven games during Sweden's run to direct qualification for Euro 2004, and along with Zlatan Ibrahimovic filled the gap left after the temporary international retirement of Henrik Larsson.

Larsson changed his mind and has been named for the finals squad, giving Sweden greater depth in attack.

Allback's double against Hungary in Budapest gave Sweden a crucial 2-1 win in their third match to steady the ship after draws with Latvia away and Hungary at home.

Nigeria's defender Taribo West is in pursuit of the ball with Sweden's forward Marcus Allback during match 21 group F of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea Japan opposing Sweden and Nigeria 07 June, 2002 in Kobe, Japan. AFP PHOTO GABRIEL BOUYS

The professed wine lover will be 30-years-old in the week following the Euro 2004 final and his rise to the top has been slow but sure.

He played in all four matches in Sweden's run to the 2002 World Cup second round after squeezing into the squad (he was the last man named) after a purple patch in the spring of that year that had seen him move to Aston Villa in the English Premiership in May.

Experience counts

He started out with four seasons at Orgryte before a switch to Denmark's Lyngby in 1996. Then came a miserable time in Italy where he failed to score in 16 starts for Bari during the 1997-98 season, that sent him scurrying back to Orgryte to lick his wounds.

A move to Heerenveen in the Netherlands re-launched his career and he scored 25 goals in 48 starts for the Dutch team between 2000-02.

British player of Aston Villa club Marcus Allback (L) jumps as he fights for the ball Emirati defender Issa Majid (falling) of Al-Nasr club during their friendly match in Dubai 12 November 2003. Aston Villa won 5-3. AFP PHOTO/Rabih MOGHRABI

However, the then Aston Villa boss Graham Taylor persuaded him to join his international teammate Olof Mellberg at the English midlands club, taking advantage of a clause in his contract that said he could leave for some 3 million euros during May of 2002.

Villa are no longer the European giants that were capable of winning the European Cup in 1982 and spent the 2002-03 season fighting relegation.

Though Allback started only nine games and made 11 appearances as a substitute, often playing second fiddle to Juan Pablo Angel, it was the Swede's goal in a 1-0 win over Sunderland that ensured Villa's Premiership survival in the penultimate match of the season.

He made his international debut in November 1999 and made it into Sweden's Euro 2000 squad, but will have felt frustrated to have never been called from the subs bench.

Euro 2004 should be somewhat different for Allback, Sweden's top active marksman. Despite stiff competition from Ajax star striker Ibrahimovic, coaches Lars Lagerback and Tommy Soderberg are conservative in their selection and generally go for one striker, leaning strongly towards the more experienced player.