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In the beautiful and dramatic Group C match, which took place at the Dragao stadium in the city of Porto, the Italian team failed to hold on to a minimal lead and played a draw with the Swedish eleven. Italy - Sweden 1 - 1 37' 85'
The Italians started the game more actively and threatened the opponent's goal as early as the third minute: Vieri took the ball away from Jakobsson, but the goalkeeper Isaksson managed to block the striker. After ten minutes, Ljungberg sprinted down the left flank to the goal line, passed the ball to Ibrahimovic, but his shot from six meters flew over the crossbar.
In the 19th minute, Vieri's header flew over the goal. Shortly after, another dangerous Italian attack - Zambrotta breaks through on the wing, passes to Del Piero, who shoots inaccurately from ten meters without stopping.
In the 26th minute, Ljungberg jumps into the penalty area dangerously but loses the ball surrounded by defenders and the goalkeeper. Two minutes later, Del Piero shoots from 25 meters, the ball dangerously deflects from the defender, but Isaksson saves his goal with his fingertips. Vieri also fails to head the ball successfully and misses a good opportunity.
Italy broke through in the 37th minute: Panucci passes from the right flank, and Cassano heads the ball towards the goal. At the end of the half, the same combination was attempted again, but this time Cassano's header went straight to the goalkeeper.
The second half began with bad news for Italy fans, as Cannavaro received a yellow card and will miss the match against Bulgaria. Despite that, the Swedes had more to defend, and in the 48th minute, after Panucci's pass, Vieri shoots the ball wide of the goal.
In the 57th minute, Del Piero received a pass upfront and seeing Isaksson slightly off his line, tried to chip him. However, the attempt was a bit weak, and the defender cleared the danger.
Midway through the second half, the Swedish coaches began to strengthen the attack by making substitutions, sending Jonson and Allback onto the field. This reflected in the team's play as the Swedes started attacking more aggressively. In the 78th minute, a dangerous counterattack, Larsson holds the ball, passes it to Jonson on the wing, but his shot is well saved by Buffon. Soon after, Jonson is again in the heart of the attack, but his header goes wide.
With five minutes left until the end of the match following a corner kick lifted by Kallstrom in the penalty area, confusion arises and Ibrahimovic redirects the ball into the top corner with his heel. The huge army of Swedish fans erupts, while the Italians seem disturbed by such an unexpected turn of events.
At the end of the match, the Italian team launched a decisive attack, but Vieri missed twice with headers, Zambrotta's shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, and after a corner kick, Panucci failed to utilize the last opportunity.
Statistics: Shots: 19 (Italy) and 11 (Sweden) Shots on target: 8 and 4 Passes: 519 and 459 Completed passes: 418 and 334 Fouls: 14 and 21 Corners: 10 and 5 Offsides: 5 and 2 Yellow cards: 3 and 2 Ball possession: 54% and 46%
