England U21 3 Finland U21 3, England win 5-4 on pens. Read a full match report from the European Under-21 Championship fixture between England and Sweden in Gothenburg, Sweden on June 26, 2009.
A miracle. England win a shoot-out. England reach a final. On an extraordinary evening here at Gamla Ullevi, Stuart Pearce’s side defied history and an astonishing Swedish second-half comeback to qualify for Monday’s final of the Uefa Under-21 Championship when Joe Hart, Lee Cattermole, Adam Johnson, Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs kept their nerve from 12 yards. Practice does make perfect after all.
Pearce has had his players honing their penalty technique for the past two years, ever since bowing out of the last tournament on spot-kicks, and only James Milner, otherwise outstanding, missed here. Victory, though, came at a cost with suspensions for Hart, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Fraizer Campbell, leaving England particularly exposed in attack, although Walcott finished the game in spritely form as the sole striker.
It had all seemed so straightforward at half-time. On a surreal evening that had blazing sunshine and floodlights at full beam, Sweden were booed off by their own fans at the break following goals by Martin Cranie, Nedum Onuoha and Mattias Bjarsmyr’s own goal. Sweden were that bad, giving no hint of their pyrotechnics to come. England were that good, as confident now as they were atrocious in the second period when Berg, inevitably, and Toivonen, at last challenged England’s control.
Until Sweden’s strikers showed their class, England had dominated. Pearce’s men have threatened at set-pieces throughout this tournament, bringing goals for the likes for Micah Richards and Jack Rodwell, and in the first half here it was the turn of Cranie and Onuoha to plunder reward followed by Bjarsmyr’s own goal. Sweden boast height at the back, and a decent keeper in Johan Dahlin, but they simply could not deal with James Milner’s corners.
None of the Swedes took responsibility, no one attacked the ball, a real frustration to their joint-coach, Jorgen Lennartsson, who simulated heading the ball as his defence dithered again and again. England could not have enjoyed a better start, scoring after a minute, Cranie picking the perfect moment to net his first ever goal.
Rasmus Bengtsson was hounded by Agbonlahor into conceding a corner and England had their chance. The big men moved up from the back, defenders like Richards and Onuoha rolling into range, looking the obvious targets for Milner. The Aston Villa winger swung the ball over, missing Richards and Onuoha but finding Cranie. The Portsmouth full-back met the ball well, firing it goalwards, his shot slipping past Emil Johansson on the line: 1-0.
Sweden showed some life, Toivonen testing Joe Hart with a free-kick, and then Marcus Berg heading over but England’s pace on the counter again put the hosts under renewed pressure. Agbonlahor then split open Bjarsmyr’s forehead, and further pain was felt by Sweden. As their captain and centre-half was being stitched up in the changing room, Milner curled in another corner that Onuoha controlled, turned nimbly and shot left-footed past Dahlin: 2-0.
England then added a third, again following the wreckage of a corner, again following hesitancy in the Swedish defence. Kieran Gibbs, breaking down the left, constantly looking to support and overlap Walcott, forced another corner. When Milner’s ball carried through to the far side, Walcott whipped it back in with interest. Lee Cattermole flicked the ball goalwards, Bjarsmyr went into meltdown, perhaps still groggy from bumping into Agbonlahor, and turned the ball in past the despairing Dahlin: 3-0.
Walcott was beginning to build up steam, not difficult in such humid conditions, and he soon embarked on a lengthy dribble, twisting into the box, stopped only by a wall of yellow and blue. Agbonlahor was running out of steam, so Pearce sent on Fraizer Campbell. Pearce was beginning to lose patience with Mark Noble, who was allowing Sweden to build from deep midfield, and he shouted to Rodwell to get warmed up.
As the Everton teenager got ready, Sweden began to threaten the great escape. Berg poached one back after 68 minutes, shooting low past Hart: 3-1. Game on. Sweden’s tails were up. Worse befell England when Toivonen bent in a free-kick: 3-2. England were really rocked back on their heels, resembling a boxer who had taken too many punches. Another combination hit them. When Rasmus Elm crossed from the right, Robin Soder flicked the ball back and there was Berg volleyed home: 3-3.
Match details
England Under-21 (4-1-4-1): Hart; Cranie, Richards, Onuoha, Gibbs; Muamba (Johnson 115); Milner, Cattermole, Noble (Rodwell 70), Walcott; Agbonlahor (Campbell 59).
Subs: Lewis (g), Taylor, Stearman, Gardner, Tomkins, Mancienne, Driver, Rose, Loach (g).
Booked: Agbonlahor, Campbell, Hart. Sent off: Campbell
Sweden Under-21 (4-4-2): Dahlin; Lustig, Bjarsmyr, R Bengtsson, Johansson (Soder 75); Elm, Landgren, Svensson, Olsson; Berg, Toivonen.
Subs: Hansson (g), Karlsson, Avdic, Molins, Harbuzi, P Bengtsson, Ozkan, Ekstrand, Nordfeldt (g).
Referee: C Cakir (Turkey).
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