Drama right to the end

Mutual progress
With Italy also scoring late to seal victory over Bulgaria, Sweden would have been eliminated had Jonson not delighted the Swedish fans in the Estádio do Bessa Século XXI with his equaliser moments before the Azzurri went ahead. Sweden, Denmark and Italy all finished on five points, but finished in that order in the group on their head-to-head record, which came down to goals scored.

'Great fight'
"It was a great fight for 90 minutes," said a relieved Lagerbäck, whose side will face Germany, the Netherlands or Latvia on Saturday in Faro-Loulé. "I do not know how to say it but of course I am extremely glad. It is unbelievable to get a draw right at the end of the 90 minutes."

Enthralling game
Jon Dahl Tomasson twice gave Denmark the lead in an enthralling game, but Sweden refused to give up, first equalising through Henrik Larsson's penalty, then Jonson's dramatic strike. Lagerbäck said: "Of course if you look at the whole game it is a good result for us too. We had some problems with the Danish team - especially in the first half. In the second half we created some good chances and started to control the game. Overall, I thought it was a fair result."

Larsson's joy
Jonson - based in Denmark with Brøndby IF - was making his first start of the tournament. He said of his goal: "I didn't have time to think. It was just a matter of hitting the ball hard." Larsson, who took his finals goal tally to three, was struggling to hide his delight. "Fantastic, it's just fantastic," he said. "It's a feeling of joy you just can't describe."

Czech test
Denmark now have a quarter-final on Sunday against the Czech Republic, who are already assured of top spot in Group D. Tomasson, who won the Carlsberg Man of the Match award, admitted he was disappointed not to have topped the group. "It is a shame although we have to admit that we did not play that well tonight," he said.

Superb goal
"We should not have conceded the goal at the end but we are through and hopefully we can give the Danish fans what they want in the quarter-finals." Tomasson's opening strike, a dipping volley over goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson, is a contender for goal of the tournament, but he said modestly: "I didn't notice that the goalkeeper was off his line. It was a great ball to me. I went for the shot and I was happy to see it go in."

Room for improvement
His coach Morten Olsen said that Denmark would have to produce a better performance to beat the Czech Republic. "I'm not sure how important it was to finish top because we don't know what kind of team Sweden will face," he said. "The Czechs are very good, though. They are one of the favourites and we will have to improve on today's display."

Nervous moments
Olsen admitted that he was struggling to hold his nerve in a tense second half, saying: "It was a nightmare! The Swedes were always dangerous from set pieces and after we conceded the penalty we seemed to forget how to play."

All-out for victory
After seeing both sides attack relentlessly throughout the 90 minutes, Olsen laughed off the suggestion that the teams might have engineered the result to ensure they progressed at Italy's expense. "I think everybody who watched the game could see that both teams were going for a victory," he said. "We could have done better but I'm satisfied that we are through to the quarter-finals."

Jensen blow
Olsen also revealed that Niclas Jensen, who was replaced by Kasper Bøgelund at half-time, could be out of the tournament with an ankle injury, saying: "He felt his heel and I don't think he will play again in this competition."