Swedish stars return to the fold

Sweden co-coaches Lars Lagerbäck and Tommy Söderberg have recalled a number of experienced players to face England on 31 March as they look to finalise their squad for UEFA EURO 2004™.

Stars return
Marcus Allbäck, Magnus Hedman, Johan Mjällby, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fredrik Ljungberg and Anders Svensson are all back in the fold after injuries forced them to miss the 2-1 defeat in Albania on 18 February. RSC Anderlecht's Christian Wilhelmsson was the surprise inclusion for the Gothenburg fixture.

Homegrown talent
Lagerbäck refuted suggestions, however, that the door had been closed on those plying their trade domestically after only two Swedish-based players were selected. "Absolutely not," he said. "There are still a couple of players that are of interest. We've included players now that we wanted to see against Albania but for some reason were unable to."

Skoog hope
The leading scorer in the Allsvenskan, Niklas Skoog, remains in the frame for Portugal despite being omitted. "Skoog is one possibility but Malmö [FF] are currently focusing on the league and we thought it was better for Skoog to concentrate on that," said Lagerbäck.

Stepping down
Meanwhile, the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) has announced that Söderberg will return to his position as Under-21 coach in the autumn. Söderberg vacated the role in 1998 to join forces with Lagerbäck and replace Tommy Svensson at the helm of the senior side. Current incumbent Torbjörn Nilsson will step down to take charge of one of the Swedish youth teams.

Scotland fixture
Finally, the SvFF has confirmed that Sweden will travel to Scotland for a friendly fixture on Wednesday 17 November.

Sweden squad
Isaksson, Hedman, Kihlstedt, C Andersson, Dorsin, Edman, Jakobsson, Lucic, Mellberg, Mjällby, M Svensson, Allbäck, A Andersson, Elmander, Farnerud, Ibrahimovic, Källström, Linderoth, Ljungberg, Nilsson, A Svensson, Wilhelmsson.