Source: China Daily/Agencies

06-12-2008 13:34

Special Report:   2008 European Championships

BEIJING, June 12 -- Sweden coach Lars Lagerback hailed Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his terrific strike that helped secure a 2-0 win over holder Greece at Euro 2008 on Tuesday.

Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic (left) vies  with Greek defender Paraskevas Antzas during  their Euro 2008 Championships Group D match on  Tuesday at Stade Wals-Siezenheim in Salzburg,  Austria.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

The tall striker had not scored an international goal since October 2005 but he knew exactly what to do when Henrik Larsson set him up to score the 67th-minute opener.

"We've scored some good goals but this was a beauty," Lagerback said. "There was a very good build-up and the finish was world class, so it was wonderful to see."

Ibrahimovic added: "It was a fantastic feeling, I hadn't scored for a long time and you could see I reacted very strongly.

"It wasn't an easy game for the strikers, they had three very good defenders around us. But overall I thought we played very intelligently and didn't let them play their own game."

Lagerback's praise was not reserved solely for Ibrahimovic as he commended his team's almost perfect defensive performance with the Greeks barely getting a sight of goal in a tight Group D match.

"We got the tactics right. Greece is a very tough team to play against, tactically and physically," he said.

"They are technically skilled, very tough, very fit and move around a lot. It's very nice to win but extra satisfying the way we won after the effort we put in.

"The concentration we showed, the way we held our positions ... the whole team played very well," Lagerback told a news conference. "It was not perfect but very close defensively - they had very few chances."

Sweden made the points safe when Petter Hansson bundled the ball over the line in the 72nd minute, but one worrying note was a late hamstring injury for midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson.

"I don't think he will play in the Spanish game (on Saturday) and maybe not Russia (June 18)," said Lagerback.

The coach said Larsson wanted to come off but Wilhelmsson's injury and the cramp suffered by Niclas Alexandersson meant the 36-year-old forward had to drag his legs through to the end.

"He was tired, but we couldn't take him off," said Lagerback. "He has brilliant genes though and he kept going."

Cautious tactics

Coach Otto Rehhagel defended Greece's cautious approach after its 2-0 loss.

The champions fielded five defenders in a bid to keep Swedish strike pair Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic quiet.

"If we had not played the way we played it would have been 5-0 against us in the first half," Rehhagel told reporters.

"We do want to score goals as well but the truth is we don't score many," said Rehhagel, who led Greece to its surprise triumph in Portugal four years ago. "So we must secure the back first and then see whether we can score a goal on the break."

"You must understand we don't have the offensive potential of the German team (for example).

"Some of my players failed to reach their full potential today. They tried, but against such a strong and physical team it was just not enough."

 

Editor:Zhang Ning