Ljungberg ready for Azzurri

Different test
With the 5-0 win at the Estádio José Alvalade being watched by 15,000 Swedish fans in Portugal and three million television viewers back home, the players are well aware of the pressure on their shoulders. Fredrik Ljungberg, who opened the scoring last night, said: "It will be a different game against Italy. Their team is class through and through. We don't feel any pressure, we will keep our feet on the ground and we know that if we play well, we will be able to get a good result."

'Brilliant start'
Even if the Swedes are looking ahead, two-goal hero Henrik Larsson still had time to reflect. "Yes, we got a fantastic result yesterday," said Larsson. "It was a brilliant start for us as a team, even though we struggled a lot during the first 20 or 30 minutes, but at the same time you have to remember that it's just a single game and we have to focus on the next one now."

Defensive needs
Sweden's co-coaches Tommy Söderberg and Lars Lagerbäck have urged caution among the squad, with the latter particularly keen to tighten up at the back despite the clean sheet. Lagerbäck said: "In the second half everything went very well, but there are a couple of things we have to work on ahead of the match against Italy. We had some problems in our defence and I don't think we can allow Italy the same space on Friday."

Lucic worry
Meanwhile, Teddy Lucic is a major doubt after suffering a rib injury that forced him to be substituted in the 41st minute by Christian Wilhelmsson. Team doctor Magnus Forsblad said: "We will have to keep it under observation, and we will be able to check it closer when the internal bleeding has stopped. If it is a fracture he will be out for a week or so." Lucic is likely to be replaced at right-back by Mikael Nilsson, who declared himself "very pleased" after impressing in that position while Wilhelmsson moved into midfield.