SWEDEN 1-0 PARAGUAY

SWEDEN 1-0 PARAGUAY

15 June 2006

Freddie Ljungberg's 88th-minute header earned Sweden a 1-0 victory over Paraguay in Berlin on Thursday, 15 June 2006.

Ljungberg's strike leaves the Scandinavians strongly positioned to take second place in Group B, three points above Trinidad and Tobago going into their game against leaders England. For Paraguay, however, the late goal spelt heartbreak, ending their hopes of progressing to the second round.

The match:
1'Following a goalless draw against Trinidad and Tobago in their opening game, Sweden coach Lars Lagerback knew this was a match he could not afford not to win and the Scandinavians began the match immediately on the attack.

9': Kim Kallstrom, in for Anders Svensson, unleashed a stunning shot from 25 yards that Aldo Bobadilla did brilliantly to turn around the post. From the resulting corner, Zlatan Ibrahimovic climbed highest six yards out but his glancing header landed wide of goal.

13': Kallstrom was again in the thick of things four minutes later. The Lyon-bound midfielder fed Ibrahimovic who combined with Henrik Larsson to tee up Christian Wilhelmsson for a shot from distance that whistled wide.

33': Just as they did against England, Paraguay seemed content to sit back, soak up the pressure and rely on the counterattack. In one of their more dangerous ventures beyond the half-way line, Nelson Valdez blasted well over from edge of the box after Roque Santa Cruz's astute knock-down.

34': Spurred into a reply, Larsson almost pounced on a poor clearance but the 34-year-old's header fell kindly into the arms of Bobadilla.

41': With Sweden throwing men forward, left-back Jorge Nunez found plenty of space to exploit as Paraguay broke only for his angled cross-shot to fall harmlessly wide. Straight from the goal-kick, Ibrahimovic broke clear at the other end but his precise finish lacked strength and Bobadilla dived to save comfortably.

More positive:
46': Facing the prospect of being eliminated before their third group match, Paraguay came out for the second half in more aggressive fashion. Moving intelligently along the backline, Valdez ran onto a pass inside the area and cut the ball back onto his right foot before shooting into the side-netting.

51':From a similar position, the striker, who plays his football in Germany for Werder Bremen, this time turned onto his left foot but the end result remained the same with the effort missing the near post.

54': The Swedes hit back and after Ljungberg was tripped on the edge of the box, Larsson's fiercely struck free-kick had Bobadilla throwing himself to his left to fist clear.

58':Despite the lack of goals, the game was brewing nicely now. At the other end, Roberto Acuna, always one for the dramatic, forced Andreas Isaksson into a save with a skidding left-foot strike from fully 30 yards.

59':But it was Sweden who should have taken the lead. Substitute Marcus Allback, on for Ibrahimovic, broke the offside trap but failed to connect properly with his lob over the onrushing Bobadilla allowing Denis Caniza to make a spectacular goal-line clearance.

79':Lagerback's team again were beginning to dominate possession albeit without really creating a clear scoring chance. Wandering forward, Nunez tried his luck from 40 yards out and the ball only just cleared the bar as Isaksson quickly backpeddled.

80': Allback had another wonderful chance to break the deadlock. Larsson nodded the ball down but the Copenhagen forward, with his back to goal six yards out, could only manage to hook it into Bobadilla’s arms.

83': Paraguay were being restricted to long shots although substitute Edgar Barreto's 30-yarder needed to be tipped over by Isaksson.

88': Just as it seemed the game would end goalless, Sweden snatched the winner. Allback headed the ball across goal and Ljungberg, running in from the right, directed his header back across goal and inside the far post to kick off wild celebrations on the bench and in the crowd.

90+1':The Arsenal player almost grabbed a second goal but Bobadilla pulled off a fine save to turn his curling effort around the post.

In conclusion: After a performance not dissimilar to that in their opening game, Sweden conjured up their first goal at these finals to secure their first win. While they are now clear favourites to join England in the second round, Paraguay, who again defended bravely without really looking threatening in attack, will make an early exit after their final match against Trinidad and Tobago.