Sweden

Sweden look to confirm potential

Sweden will hope to erase the painful memory of their Euro 2000 first round flop when they return to the championships in Portugal after a smooth run through their qualifying group.

Picture taken 02 April 2003, in the 'Ferenc Puskas' stadium of Budapest of Swedish soccer national team prior to a qualification match for EURO 2004 against Hungary. (First line - (ltr) Johan Mjallby, Fredrik Ljunberg, Marcus Allback, Anders Svensson and Henrik Larsson second line - Teddy Lucici, Olaf Mellberg, Andreas Isaksson, Andreas Andersson, Mikael Svensson and Erik Edman.) AFP PHOTO ATTILA KISBENEDEK

Sweden hosted the 1992 championships, the last tournament before the format switched to 16 teams and reached the semi-finals where they were beaten 3-2 by Germany but failed to qualify for Euro 96 in England.

At Euro 2000 they were drawn in Group B along with Italy, Turkey and co-hosts Belgium, slinking out at the first round hurdle, winless and with only a point from three outings.

As 2002 marked their 10th World Cup appearance, it has been a happier hunting ground for a country with a long and rich footballing tradition.

Back in 1958 they hosted the World Cup and made a valiant run to the final where Pele and Brazil won an entertaining match 5-2 under the rain in Gothenburg.

Sweden have also reached the semi-finals three times in 1938, 1950 and most recently at USA 94 where Kennet Andersson's six goals served them well.

Golden goodbye in Asia

Out in Korea and Japan in 2002 Henrik Larsson and company helped oust Argentina in the first round but then came unstuck against surprise package Senegal in the round of 16 when a golden goal broke their hearts.

Swedish football authorities have kept faith with joint coaches Tommy Soderberg and Lars Lagerback despite the disappointment of failing to reach the quarter-finals in each of the last two tournaments.

Soderberg has been at the helm since 1998 and was joined by Lagerback, who has an equal status, in January 2000.

They opened their Euro 2004 campaign with with two draws but then caught fire winning five straight qualifiers starting with a crucial 2-1 victory in Hungary, where striker Marcus Allback poached a brace.

They followed up two routs of tiny San Marino (6-0 and 5-0) and then crucially beat chief rivals Poland 2-0 to book their ticket for Portugal with a game to spare.

Despite Henrick Larsson's retirement Allback, Zlatan Ibrahamovic and Mattias Jonson now provide plenty of firepower.

Ljunberg is a veritabl devil on the left of midfield while inspirational captain and Sweden's 2003 player of the year Olof Mellberg is a lynchpin in defence.

Perhaps Euro 2004 will be the stage where Ajax striker Ibrahimovic can make his mark if he can edge out Allback, as the coaches prefer a lone striker, one with enough nous to score against Group C rivals, Italy, Denmark and Bulgaria, all three of them qualifying group winners.

Factfile on Sweden

Population

8.9 million

Area

449,964 sq km

Capital

Stockholm

Currency

Swedish Krona

Federation

Svenska Fotbollforbundet (Swedish football federation), founded in 1904

Affiliated to FIFA

1904

Affiliated to UEFA

1954

Registered players

198,520

Colours

Yellow shirts, blue shorts, yellow socks

Top clubs

IFK Gothenburg, Malmo, AIK Stockholm, Helsingborgs IF

World Cup appearances

10 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1958, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 2002)

World Cup honours

Finalist (1958), 3rd (1950, 1994), Semi-finalist (1938), Quarter-finalists (2002), Second round (1974)

European Championship appearances

3 (1992, 2000, 2004)

European Championship honours

Third-place (1992)

How they qualified

Finished top of Group 4 with 17 points (5 wins, 2 draws, 1 defeat, 19 goals for and 3 against) ahead of Latvia (16), Poland (13), Hungary (11) and San Marino (0)

Key players

Fredrik Ljungberg, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcus Allback

Coaches

Tommy Soderberg and Lars Lagerback