Sweden Crushes Bulgaria
June 15, 2004
The match in the Portuguese capital Lisbon started with a spirited first half with scoring chances on both sides. The Bulgarians came fast and furious, repeatedly launching attacks. Martin Petrov broke free to feed the ball to Zoran Jankovich and Dimitar Berbatov, but the Swedish defense always managed to ward off the worst.
Sweden took the lead in the 32nd minute after Freddie Ljungberg tapped in a pass from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who bolted away from Bulgarian defenders attempting to leave him offside.
Bulgaria had a chance to level when Petrov got past Mikael Nilsson and chipped it to Jankovich who had a clear shot on goal but he headed it past the far post.
It was then that Henrik Larsson buried Bulgaria's hopes early in the second half after scoring two goals within two minutes. First the striker put one past the keeper with a flying header in the 57th minute and 60 seconds later he returned to the penalty area to use his left foot to score again.
It marked an amazing return for Larsson, who had retired from international soccer after the 2002 World Cup to spend more time with his son. Begged by his coach and politely asked by members of the Swedish royal family to return, only after his six-year-old son gave his approval did he decide to don the national jersey again.
After Ljungberg was downed on the edge of the penalty area, Ibrahimovic nailed the coffin shut by converting a penalty in the 76th minute and substitute Marcus Allbäck added insult to injury by sinking a distance shot after the match had crossed into injury time.
The 5-0 win is the highest scoring victory for the Swedes at a European Championship.
Lineups:
Sweden: Andreas Isaksson; Teddy Lucic, Olof Mellberg, Andreas Jakobsson, Erik Edman; Tobias Linderoth, Mikael Nilsson, Fredrik Ljungberg, Anders Svensson; Zlatan
Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson.
Bulgaria: Zdravko Zdravkov; Vladimir Ivanov, Rossen Kirilov, Ivailo Petkov, Pedrag Pajin; Stilian Petrov, Marian Hristov, Georgi Peev, Martin Petrov; Zoran Jankovich, Dimitar Berbatov.