Budweiser Man of the Match: Freddie LJUNGBERG (SWE)

15 June 2006

With fellow forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic forced to come off at half-time, Freddie Ljungberg was the last-minute hero for Sweden thanks to his 88th-minute strike, the lone goal in his team's 1-0 defeat of Paraguay.

Ljungberg's goal and all-round attacking presence throughout the match earned him honours as Budweiser Man of the Match. In a game that saw plenty of chances but only one goal, the Arsenal player came through when it seemed that the teams would have to share the points, a result that would have satisfied nobody.

"It was actually going to be a difficult decision to pick the Budweiser Man of the Match because there were quite a lot of players who made a good contribution, but Freddie obviously tipped the balance in Sweden's favour," said FIFA Technical Study Group member Andy Roxburgh.

"He started brilliantly, worked really hard throughout the match and was the one guy who seemed to be able to open Paraguay up. When Sweden put him off the front two, it released him from his normal role and he blossomed."

In the end, Ljungberg's goal made him an obvious choice. "It was a great header and it had to be to beat the Paraguayan goalkeeper, who was outstanding tonight. When picking the Man of the Match, the thing you look to is who made the difference – tonight, the man who made the difference was Freddie Ljungberg."