France advanced to the last eight of Euro 2012 as runners-up of Group D despite a 2-0 defeat to Sweden at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev.
In a frantic opening, France were given an early scare as Ola Toivonen sprung clear and rounded French keeper Hugo Lloris only to then hit the outside of the post from a tight angle.
Sweden opened the scoring as Zlatan Ibrahimović acrobatically volleyed into the back of the net nine minutes into the second half.
Sebastian Larsson made the game safe in injury time by emphatically volleying a rebound into an empty net and finally giving the large contingent of Swedish fans a reason to celebrate.
The loss meant Laurent Blanc's side ended Group D as runners-up and will meet world and European champions Spain in Donetsk on Saturday.
Lineups:
Sweden: Andreas Isaksson, Andreas Granqvist, Olof Mellberg, Jonas Olsson, Martin Olsson; Anders Svensson (Samuel Holmén, 79), Kim Källström; Sebastian Larsson, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Emir Bajrami (Christian Wilhelmsson, 46); Ola Toivonen (Pontus Wernbloom, 78)
France: Hugo Lloris, Mathieu Debuchy, Adil Rami, Philippe Mexès, Gaël Clichy; Alou Diarra; Hatem Ben Arfa (Florent Malouda, 59), Samir Nasri (Jeremy Menez, 77), Yann M'Vila (Olivier Giroud, 83), Franck Ribéry; Karim Benzema
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| Sebastian Larsson shoots to score Sweden's second goal against France Photo: AP |
In a frantic opening, France were given an early scare as Ola Toivonen sprung clear and rounded French keeper Hugo Lloris only to then hit the outside of the post from a tight angle.
Sweden opened the scoring as Zlatan Ibrahimović acrobatically volleyed into the back of the net nine minutes into the second half.
Sebastian Larsson made the game safe in injury time by emphatically volleying a rebound into an empty net and finally giving the large contingent of Swedish fans a reason to celebrate.
The loss meant Laurent Blanc's side ended Group D as runners-up and will meet world and European champions Spain in Donetsk on Saturday.
Lineups:
Sweden: Andreas Isaksson, Andreas Granqvist, Olof Mellberg, Jonas Olsson, Martin Olsson; Anders Svensson (Samuel Holmén, 79), Kim Källström; Sebastian Larsson, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Emir Bajrami (Christian Wilhelmsson, 46); Ola Toivonen (Pontus Wernbloom, 78)
France: Hugo Lloris, Mathieu Debuchy, Adil Rami, Philippe Mexès, Gaël Clichy; Alou Diarra; Hatem Ben Arfa (Florent Malouda, 59), Samir Nasri (Jeremy Menez, 77), Yann M'Vila (Olivier Giroud, 83), Franck Ribéry; Karim Benzema
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