Sweden coach Lars Lagerback hailed Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his terrific strike that helped secure a 2-0 win over holders Greece at UEFA EURO 2008 on Tuesday. 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.
Right tactics
"We got the tactics right. Greece are 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. Ibrahimovic was replaced soon after his goal but Lagerback said the Inter Milan striker was merely tired and that there was no sign of the knee injury that has dogged him last season. "I certainly expect him to play against Spain," he said.
