1. Lars Lagerbäck is not the man to manage Sweden from now on. Three victories in four major tournaments is not good enough. The final nail in the coffin was choosing to defend a 2-0 deficit.

2. Anders Svensson’s time in the national team is over. Ditto Teddy Lucic.

3. Henrik Larsson looks like a lower division striker now. Time to bow out. Thanks for the memories !

4. Andreas Isaksson looks like a world class ‘keeper if he doesn’t get injured.

5. Rami Shaban is too good to play in the Norwegian first division.

6. Where is the next generation of world class Swedish defenders going to come from?

7. Fredrik Ljungberg dives too often, argues with the referee too much but is the only current player in the squad capable of rising to the challenge of a major tournament. Sweden’s Mr Consistent in Germany.

8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has lost his way. In Italy and in Sweden.

9. Olof Mellberg might need to look for a new day job: Aston Villa may want to sell him while he still commands a decent fee. Poor.

10. Chippen is a creative and attacking winger. But he lost his way in Germany. Ineffective at times, but a ray of hope for the future.

If you’re a keen follower of Swedish football, we cover the major Stockholm clubs as well as whatever is happening in Sweden over at Schlockholm.

See you in South Africa in 2010 !

If the match between the two European sides is a draw, England will top the group and Sweden will go through as Group B runners up to play the top team in Group A, again either Ecuador or Germany.

If Sweden, however, lose the match, Trinidad & Tobago can seize second spot by defeating Paraguay by two goals in their clash in Kaiserslautern.

The clash between Group A leaders Ecuador and Germany is scheduled to finish in Berlin just hours before England and Sweden kick-off in Cologne. Although Ecuador have set the tournament on fire, scoring five goals and conceding none in their victories over Poland and Costa Rica, Sweden would probably rather face the South Americans in the last 16 rather than host nation Germany who are a much bigger threat.

If Ecuador win or draw the match in the capital, then they will win Group A with Germany as runners up, however a German win will see the host nation finish top.

There is a strong possibility that Sweden could meet Germany in the second round. This would be a massive match for Lagerbäck’s band of merry men as, despite their recent poor form, the Germans have looked solid playing at home and with the support of the home crowd.

Over the last twenty years Sweden and England have played each other 10 times, with Sweden remarkably having never lost, winning four of the 10 matches and drawing six. NOt bad, eh, for a bunch of vikings from the north!

When quizzed as to whether he would like to avoid playing Germany in the second round, England coach Sven Göran Eriksson made it quite clear there are advantages to finishing top of Group B.

“You have one more day off than your opponents all the way through to the final. So we want to win the group.”

“Before leaving this job I should like to beat Sweden,” Eriksson added, the cheeky prankster.

Originally from the Värmland region of Sweden, Eriksson confirmed (14:00 CET) Shrek-lookalike Wayne Rooney will start against Sweden alongside Michael Owen.

“We are a different team with Rooney,” Eriksson said, perhaps overstating the obvious.

Eriksson is also expected to rest Liverpool’s captain mavel, Steven Gerrard, who is on a yellow card and would miss out in the next round if he picks up a card.  Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves is expected to start in his place while Livepool defender Jamie Carragher will play at right back for the injured Gary Neville.

Hargreaves won’t both us as he’s not nearly as classy as Gerrard. It’s almost like Svennis had decided to play more cautiously than Lagerbäck who is set to pick a very combative midfield with Chippen Willhelmsson set to be rested and Matias Jonson playing instead. Jonsson is better defensively and I’m sure hell be more creative in midfield.

There’s no doubt we will be looking for the win to ensure place in the second round even though a draw might do it. The bad news is that Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was crocked whilst warming up for Sweden’s previous match against Paraguay, won’t play. The lanky striker has been in poor form of late and is widely expected to be replaced by the more robust Marcus Allbäck, who plays for FC Copenhagen in Denmark.

As for Anders Svensson, he’s expected to start on the bench again, no doubt with a bottle of milk and some cookies to stop him from sulking.

I’m predicting Sweden will win 3-1 with Anders Svensson coming off the bench to score a hat-rick in the last ten minutes! Then again, perhaps not.

Let’s have your predicitions then!

Despite tonight’s victory, it mustn’t be forgotten that Paraguay pushed us all the way and could have won if it wasn’t for a few fine saves from Isaksson. Indeed, for most of the match it really did look we couldn’t score no matter what we did. In fact, until Ljungberg scored I was convinced Allbäck would have nightmares for the rest of his life about missing THAT goal. How the Paraguay defender managed to get back and kick the goal-bound-ball away to safety I’ll never know.

Kim Källström was class this evening. Markus Allbäck also showed that he can create more chances, even if he fluffs them, that Zlatan at the moment. And Isaksson’s flapping at crosses suggested that Lagerbäck was wrong to drop Shaban, who oozed confidence and élan against Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday.

Now’s not the time to pick the match or performance apart. Now’s the time to celebrate a sweet victory! Sweden are still in this World Cup and fighting and I’m loving every minute of it.

With only one minute of ordinary time left, Ljungberg sent Swedish fans wild as he scored Sweden’s first goal of the tournament to put Sweden just two points behind England in Group B and surely into the quarter finals of the World Cup.

Sweden were arguably the better side throughout the first-half, attacking the Paraguay goal but as the seconds ticked away in the second-half it was Swedish keeper Isaksson who was called upon to make a couple of important saves.

After intense criticism over the last few days since the Trinidad & Tobago match on Saturday, Lars Lagerbäck will no doubt savour tonight’s victory along with his players.

Heja Sverige!

The critics have been proved right thus far: it’s been a nervy contest with both sides wary of giving the ball away, pushing to get up front and then choking in front of goal.

Kim Källström has been much more effective in midfield than Anders Svensson was again Trinidad Tobago: he definitely merits being in the starting line-up for a superb shot from twenty-five meters out that forced the keeper into the save of the first-half.

Freddie Ljungberg has been a dynamo running up the flanks, cutting inside and causing probs in and around the box but he just hasn’t been able to find a way through to the keeper.

The biggest disappointment of the first half, apart from not scoring, has been Zlatan’s performance. He’s running and keeping his head up but he doesn’t look like a world class striker at present. Then again, look at Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard. Both played atrociously for England but scored vital goals when it mattered. I thought Svennis had lost the plot when he took Michael Owen off early in the second-half against Trinidad Tobago. Crouch was the one who was nonchalant, missing chance after chance but Svennis kept faith in him and 9 minutes from time he latched onto an inch perfect cross from David Beckham to send the English into the quarter-finals.

Let’s hope Zlatan or Henke manage to do the same for us. then again, I’d settle for Anders Svensson coming off the bench to score a blinder.

Looking at the coverage you can see that pressure is mounting on Lars Lagerbäck and his players.

What with ugly spats between players in the dressing room and animosity on the training pitch, Sweden’s image as a harmonious side with players working together as friends as well as team-mates has taken a battering. Now it’s all about winning.

With that in mind Lagerbäck is expected to field a more offensively-minded side in Berlin tonight with Anders Svensson, much criticised by the press in the wake of Saturday’s result, likely to start on the bench. Fans’ favourite, Lyon-midfielder, Kim Källström is tipped to be handed his first World Cup start after impressing as a substitute in Saturday’s game.

Poor Kim, it’s like the weight of the country’s expectation is on him. Still, I think this a great opportunity for him to show what he’s made of: After all, this must surely be the kind of evening you dream of as a kid: playing for your country in the World Cup with the odds stacked against you.

With Paraguay also under pressure having lost 1-0 to England in their opening match of the tournament, I’m predicting the match will be an edgy contest with both sides wary of being exposed at the back. In the past Sweden sides have coped better against stronger sides, hitting opponents on the counter-attack, and then defending well. It was evident on Saturday that Zlatan, Henke Larsson, Freddie Ljungberg & Co were uncomfortable taking the game to Trinidad Tobago. I’m sure that against a more adventurous Paraguay side there will be a few moments when there’s more space up front. This is when Zlatan & Co really have to show their class.

With a few Sweden flags flying around the city in anticipation of tonight’s match, I’m expecting more to become apparent during the day as nine o’clock and kick-off edges closer. Everyone is talking about THE match of the year so far. If Sweden get the win they crave, expect the party to begin both in Berlin where all the Swedish fans are and on the streets of Stockholm.

In a moment of weakness I could see what he meant.

“But with Källström in the team things will be different,” I said, not sure if I believed this myself entirely.

He looked at me then shrugged. “Lagerbäck will pick Svensson again. Just to spite everyone. That’s the way things are done in Sweden. You don’t change things easily.”

His comments have bugged me all evening. Despite the glorious weather the only thing I can think of is: Is this it? Can we beat Paraguay?

Come on guys? Let’s have your thoughts. What chance have Sweden got against a side that pushed England all the way yesterday?

He was confident, came for the ball on crosses, pulled off a couple of superb saves and looked like he belonged between the posts for the entire match.

Despite Isaksson’s status as Sweden’s number one for the last couple of years, Lars Lagerbäck may well find himself under pressure to keep Shaban in the team after a performance like this.

Also worth mentioning

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Zlatan played well, showing the skill and vision that’s made him a household name in Italy and Sweden. He was unlucky not to score.

Olof Melberg: The captain hasn’t played well for Aston Villa all season but seems to have got his concentration back at last. He stood up when he was needed, ran hard all match and did well to close down Trinidad & Tobago as they tried to hit Sweden on the counter attack late on.

The Soca Warriors fought extremely hard after defender Avery John picked up the first red card of the tournament after a couple of dreadfully naive tackles and they deserved to get something out of this match.

Congratulations aside, it was an awful result for Sweden. I’m gutted. We were clear favourites going into the match and now, already after one match, you can smell the panic: with masses of possession, good chances inside the box, masses of support from our fans, we couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.

Doesn’t that sound familiar?

TV4 is already calling the result a “Fiasco” for Sweden.

A fiasco is perhaps a bit strong, but it’s certainly not looking good.

After England beat Paraguay in Group B’s other match, and looked very strong defensively, it has to be said, this evening’s result leaves Sweden having to beat Paraguay on Thursday. That’s likely to be an extremely tough match with Paraguay also desperately needing to win.

Now I need time to let my thoughts recover.