© EuroFootball.com
Swedish national team - one leg in the round of 16. Late on Thursday evening, led by Lars Lagerback, representatives of the Scandinavian Peninsula narrowly defeated Paraguay 1-0 after a dramatic battle and secured their fourth point, almost guaranteeing a ticket to the second stage.
Olympic Stadium, Berlin 72 thousand spectators
Sweden 1 - 0 Paraguay 89' [1 - 0] Fredrik Ljungberg
Sweden: A. Isaksson; T. Lucic, O. Mellberg, T. Linderoth, E. Edman; F. Ljungberg, N. Alexandersson, K. Kallstrom (86' J. Elmander), C. Wilhelmsson (68' M. Jonson); Z. Ibrahimovic (45' M. Allback), H. Larsson.
Paraguay: A. Bobadilla; C. Gamarra, J. Nunez, J. Caceres, D. Caniza; C. Bonet (81' E. Barreto), R. Acuna, C. Paredes, C. Riveros (62' J. Dos Santos); R. Santa Cruz (63' D. Lopez), N. Valdez.
The teams started the game lively and attacked a lot. The first opportunity to score a goal was created by the Swedes in the 10th minute - goalkeeper Aldo Bobadilla saved a shot by Kim Kallstrom from 25 meters, ending the game with tears in his eyes.
After a few minutes, Paraguayan forward Roque Santa Cruz dangerously hit the ball with his head, but the ball passed beside the goal.
Later on, both teams had a few dangerous moments, but all attacks lacked finish - either the shot was slightly inaccurate, or one of the goalkeepers reliably did their job.
Nevertheless, the most promising opportunity at the end of the first half was missed by Henrik Larsson, after a long pass from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was alone in front of the goalkeeper but failed to threaten the goal - Bobadilla easily caught the weakly hit ball.
The teams went for a break with a 0-0 score.
The second half unfolded similarly, with a high tempo maintained, but attacks continued to be fruitless.
In the 54th minute, substitute goalkeeper A. Bobadilla replaced the injured Justo Villar in the goal of the Paraguayan national team and repelled a dangerous shot by Henrik Larsson. Five minutes later, Marcus Allback missed a hundred percent chance - alone in front of the goalkeeper, the Swede flicked the ball past him, but failed to direct it towards the goal, as Julio Caceres rushed into defense and diverted it into a corner.
Swedish attacks remained dangerous, while the Paraguayans increasingly tried to break through the opponent's defense with dangerous and strong long-range shots.
When it seemed that the teams would finish their second consecutive World Cup match without goals, experienced forward F. Ljungberg spoke up. In the 89th minute, after a pass from the flank, the ball was deflected to him by M. Allback, and the experienced player directed it towards the goal with his head from a few meters, scoring the long-awaited goal and putting the Swedish national team ahead.
A few minutes later, the same F. Ljungberg almost scored a second goal, but the shot from about 16 meters was blocked by the goalkeeper.
In the remaining time, the Paraguayans could not break through the opponent's goal and had to accept the failure that blocked their path to the knockout rounds.
Statistics:
Sweden - Paraguay
52% Ball possession 48% 15 shots 15 9 shots on goal 5 6 corner kicks 3 19 fouls 15 3 offside 1 3 yellow cards 4 31 lost balls 47 57 long passes 50 173 short passes 149
