Sweden 0-1 Ukraine
Sweden ended their UEFA EURO 2008™ preparations in defeat on Sunday, losing 1-0 to Ukraine at the Råsunda Stadium in Stockholm.
Crowd displeasure
The home crowd sent the Swedish team off with loud boos ringing in their ears after a pale and uninspired performance culminated in an 82nd-minute long-range strike from Serhiy Nazarenko. The Ukraine midfielder was given too much time to set up his shot, which flew straight into the middle of Rami Shaaban's net.
Brief pressure
Sunday's encounter represented the Swedes' last warm-up before they open their UEFA EURO 2008™ bid against Greece in Salzburg on 10 June, and coach Lars Lagerbäck fielded most of his potential starting eleven. Ukraine's back four coped admirably with strike duo Zlatan Ibrahimović and Henrik Larsson but experienced a brief period of pressure on the half-hour mark when the former combined with Sebastian Larsson on the right flank before releasing a shot from close range. Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov saved with his feet and Henrik Larsson then saw his header from the resultant corner cleared off the line.
Swedish substitutions
Lagerbäck made his first two substitutions at half-time, taking off Andreas Isaksson and Sebastian Larsson for Shaaban and Fredrik Ljungberg. The second half yielded four more Swedish changes as the hosts attempted to wrest the advantage, though one of those was rendered necessary by an injury to Johan Elmander, who limped off only 20 minutes after coming on. The Toulouse FC forward suffered when an opponent trod on his right foot, but he is only expected to miss three or four days of training. "It's nothing major," said team doctor Magnus Forssblad, who will take a closer look tomorrow. "It will heal with some rest."
Sweden: Isaksson (Shaaban 46), Nilsson, Hansson, Mellberg, Alexandersson (Stoor 72), Wilhelmsson, Linderoth (Svensson 56), Källström, Sebastian Larsson (Ljungberg 46), Henrik Larsson, Ibrahimović (Elmander 56 (Allbäck 76)).
Ukraine: Pyatov, Shevchuk, Rusol (Chygrynskiy 46), Kucher, Yarmash, Nazarenko, Levchenko (Mandzyuk 46), Kravchenko, Gai, Gomenyuk (Gladkiy 66), Seleznev
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